YOUR Personal Freeform CAL! - Week 11

You have missed the first 10 weeks? We don't have time pressure at all!
If you want to join our freeform adventure you will find the first puzzle piece here!

We have 22 official members now!!!

(And also some secret members of the Club...).
I hope we will get some more members now:
My small Dada Neon Crochet page has received
Crocheters Anonymous huge support,
Pamela & her team have shared my page on several
Crocheters Anonymous pages...
It's really a honour for me as I'm a huge fan of all pages.
If you don't have these pages in your newsfeed:
Go for it, they are all amazing!
Here is our collage I've created for the 1000 friends milestone.
I've started this page on my own but it has grown to a team -
it's such a pleasure for me to see in how many ways
you are supporting me.
I have to complete my studies now & have less time
so it's fabulous to have your support:
I'm getting shouts in comments when someone has spied
an artist or picture I could share on my page
& it's wonderful to see how you are trying
to encourage people to join us.
You have created something beautiful, you have a fabulous idea,
you have invented a lovely pattern:
You can totally use my page to share your ideas!
I'm so proud of all of you!

In the beginning of this post I have to speak out a special "Thank you!!!"
to my first Ladies  

Our warm-hearted Roberta who has invented
such a fantastic & unique freeform technique,
Our lovely Jodie who is not only a fabulous freeformer
but also a passionate Ukulele player
(I so have to learn it, too!!!),
our talented & creative Ulrike who is supporting our project in other groups
as the Freeform Crochet World Group as well (Thank you!!!),
Gwenda with her outstanding beautiful name & her lovely soul
(I hope you have all seen her amazing freeform coat I've posted
on my page some time ago!),
Sandy who is so damn talented that she often drives me to tears
because of the beauty of her yarnpaintings
(Sandy's Sundries & her lovely Etsy-Shop).

I was in a bad state when I've started this project.
I couldn't feel joy anymore & I wasn't able anymore
to care for myself or my daily life stuff.
Step by step & week by week
you made me feel better & better.
You are all damn special & talented persons
& I'm sure I wouldn't be back to life again as I am now
without you beautiful souls.
Thank you for saving me.

But of course also a big "Thank you!" to
Alicia with her page wonderful page Marcalic's Creations,

Marina - our lovely host in the Freeform Crochet World Group
& the Freeform Crochet World, too!
She is a self-declared "busy bee" & I think she won't mind
if I'm repeating these words here... ;-)
Multicreative people need several platforms -
If you don't wanna miss posts on her fabulous webpage Snovej
join her Facebook page Snovej Crafts  ;-)
I so respect her work -
Freeform, Crochet, Recipes, Tutorials, DIY -Wow!
There's our Anouk with her gorgeous bilingual page Een steekje verder, 

our MariaElena who has captured our hearts by storm, 

our lovely Lin with her wonderful page Crochet in Colour & her Etsy-Shop
(I couldn't imagine Facebook without her page anymore!),
Shawn & her outstanding page Dragonbird Creations
(so glad you are back again from your journey!),
Lisbeth who fell in love with Swirly hearts in the last week,
our gorgeous spiral-addicted Jane,
there is our Tracy & her fantastic page Eden Reborn -
please read her blog, too! It's damn interesting & important
what she has posted last week!
Thank you to Jenny with her beautiful page Craft Cove & her blog,
(she is creating such beautiful things, have a look!)
& our yarn artist Donna of Walker's Whimsies who is always a great help
concerning crochet techniques & art!
Our Anne... I could see amazing Crochet Art on her profile... Wow!
(Please change the settings of your pics to "public"
otherwise I can't share it!)
We have Zelna in this team now -
her page Zooty Owl & her blog are so important for me!
Thank you for having freeform fun with us now!
Our Monique with her interesting dream job
& her creative page Yemanja are also part of this team...


...and: I can announce 2 new members, yay!!!
Saskia has found our way to us & her CAL is already growing so fast & beautiful!
And we have a new member from Germany:
Cilly - She has joined today with her first fabulous puzzle piece!
Here are some beautiful progress pics:

And here are hearts for people we have lost

& miss badly...

So: but here is the project for this week...

A few Ladies have the same wish for a project

but it has to wait - I have no idea what to realize yet

because it's just not my world, haha!

But there's one thing I know for sure:

It's my favourite book!

I'm a great reader & my Dad has introduced me

to his favourite author when I was 12.

He gave me the book "Siddhartha" written by Hermann Hesse.

I so fell in love with this author, too.

I read everything - the novels, the poems the short stories, 

the philosophical & political books,

the biographies about him.

I'm collecting editions in all languages of my favourite book

- Steppenwolf -

& I've travelled to all his life stations...

Here is a pic of me with a Hermann Hesse statue

- it's in Gaienhofen in Germany where he has built his first house:

I also lived near Montagnola - in the italian speaking part of Switzerland.

Actually I only wanted to visit his grave & the places he has loved so much.

I love travelling on my own with my little tent -

and the destinations of my journeys are prefered places 

where my favourite philosophers, poets & authors have their grave.

Hesse has spent more than half of his life here.

His grave is in Gentilino near Montagnola & I've visited it quite often.

Because I've decided after 2 weeks in Ticino

to quit my job & move to this beautiful area. ;-)

But enough about me, here is my project:

I've chosen a Andy Warhol portrait of Hermann Hesse

for my Steppenwolf interpretation

because you just can't separate this author from his work.

He wrote it during his tough midlife crisis -

his best friend Hugo Ball has died

(He gave the Dadaism to this world by the way -

the first name of my inner child Dada Neon is based on it!)

& he made a psychoanalysis with C.G. Jung.

I could have easily yarnpainted a wolf

but it's not that simple.

You can't see the wolf of a person

because the wolf hides itself in the inside of  a person.

Hesse was a Steppenwolf & so am I.

This is Andy Warhol's version:

And here is my neon interpretation:

It's pretty hard to yarnpaint a face...

I've tried it in different ways

& started it again and again...

I will work out more details

but all in all I'm quite satisfied now - finally!!!

Hey, you don't have to create the author -

get inspired by looking at covers of your favourite book,

if you can't decide choose

the favourite book of your childhood,

"The Very Hungry Caterpillar" or whatever...

And if you don't know how to realize it ask me.

I really enjoy projects with completely different versions of a puzzle piece -

Be creative! (I know you will!)

And something else:

Actually I wanted to write about it in the last CAL blogpost

(no worries, still 20 or 30 or whatever weeks left!).

But there's someone in our team who has the same opinion

& also totally believes in what we are doing here...

Tracy also thinks the world has to see our art!

I will send you to a photographer in the end.

I want a printed art book with our CALs & your stories about it.

It's special what we are doing & we have to do it not only

because I love books & because I'm your biggest fan.

We need it to see our blankets in an art gallery one day.

Not in a small town gallery or something like that.

Our works are priceless & we need a damn good gallery

that can guarantee for the security & safe shipping of the afghans.

It will take a few years - the big galleries

have planned their exhibitions long before it's happening.

We have a network -

members from all over the planet.

Once we have a book we can go to gallerys,

we can carry it around every day

& if we meet persons by accident with good connections

we have something to blow them away.

I know that some Ladies have a financial problem as I do.

So it's time to start saving money NOW.

It can be in a few years in Africa, Australia, in the USA, in Europe - wherever.

I wanna give ALL of my Ladies a huge non-virtual hug

when it will happen!

So, now I should actually tell you another reason

why you are princesses for me.

But I need a reason of my post last week again:

I totally believe that something can happen in the real world

if many people have the same dream.

And when all of my princesses

believe in this project & what we can achieve

it will happen.

Dream on as strong as you can

& help Tracy and me to make our dream come true.

Stay awesome & sorry again for the belated post:

Your friend Dada 

Let me see your art in Marina's Freeform Crochet World Group, on Dada Neon Crochet or Ravelry

YOUR Personal Freeform CAL! - Week 10

You have missed the first 9 weeks? We don't have time pressure at all!
If you want to join our freeform adventure you will find the first puzzle piece here!

Unbelievable things are going on & we have

20 official members now!!!

(Hello again to our secret members of the Club!)

I'm so glad about every single person in our team, so:
THANK YOU

Roberta, Jodie, Ulrike, Gwenda,
Sandy with her page Sandy's Sundries & her beautiful Etsy-Shop,
our CAL friend Alicia with her page Marcalic's Creations,

Marina who gives us freeformers such a lovely home in the Freeform Crochet World Group
& shows us awesome Freeform Art in the
Freeform Crochet World, too!
On her website Snovej she is offering us fantastic freeform photo tutorials -
perfect for creating some gorgeous details for our growing CALs by the way! ;-)
We have Anouk in our team with her lovely page Een steekje verder, 

our MariaElena (I so love her humour!!!), 

my friend Lin with her feel-at-home-page Crochet in Colour & her Etsy-Shop,
our new CAL friend Shawn who blew us away with her Dragonbird Creations
& her shiny positive energy,
our Lisbeth - it's so much fun to see how she enjoys this project,
our spiral-loving CAL friend Jane who loves to grow her CAL
with the lovely company of her cute little daughter,
we have Tracy & her fabulous page Eden Reborn in our team -
this morning I found an overwhelming photo of her family hand project
in the Freeform Crochet World Group... Just wow!
Jenny with her colourful page Craft Cove & her beautiful blog
has already crocheted her wonderful first 5 puzzle pieces
& my friend Donna of Walker's Whimsies has crocheted her
first projects with so much love, skills & details,
a huge welcome to our new member Anne
who has decided to walk this freeform way with us!
It's so unreal for me to write the following lines
because I still have doubts if I went totally crazy now or not:
My favourite pattern designer Zelna Olivier
has decided to join this CAL project.
Zooty Owl is responsible for so many projects on my to-crochet-list
& her blog is such an important place in the world-wide-web for me!
Thank you so much, Zelna!
You really made me feel like being in a fairy tale!
She has just started a wonderful CAL on her blog, too...
I really don't have much time at the moment
but I will totally join it with a neon version of her Happy Days CAL!
She gives us comfortable two weeks for every project...
Would be great if some of you would join, too!
Just in time a new member has officially joined!
Her name is Monique & on her page Yemanja you can see
that she isn't just crocheting but also having a dream job:
Doing creative things like theater fun with children!
At the moment in Greece, wow!!!

Let's have a look at some beautiful creations of the
paint-your-favourite-song project!

And here is a playlist with our favourite songs - 

even all the future projects will be added to it

so we can enjoy all beloved songs of our members!

Here you go!

And of course I will also show you some new progress pictures...
So beautiful!!!
It's becoming quite complicated with so many members -
just in case I forgot pictures:
Complain! I can just create a new collage & edit a post ;-)
And again: Picasa decides how big the pics are, not me!

It's not only wonderful for me to see your CALs grow - 

there's something special about this CAL Club.

Friendships have started

& this week's project is actually the project of my friend Gwenda.

We are sharing more with each other than crochet.

She knows when I'm sad or happy

& even she lives in Australia

- so far away from Germany -

we have a deep connection.

Gwenda will share something with us now -

her project has touched me deeply.

It's about one of the hardest things

we have to cope with in life

& a quite sensitive topic.

It's about losing a beloved person

& Gwenda will introduce us to a wonderful person

- Lucy -

in a way which makes you cry & smile at the same time.

Thank you so much for sharing your feelings with us, Gwenda!

***************************************************

LUCY

I first met Lucy thirty-seven years ago. 

She is the mother of John (husband), and the Grandmother of our children. 

She was the most wonderful mother, mother-in-law, 

grandmother and friend anybody could have.  

She never interfered, and I know she probably would have liked to, 

she always gave us her time and listened to all we had to say. 

Lucy had a devastating stroke on Friday the 27th of June, 2014 

and passed away on the 1st of July, 2014. 

She was 95 years old. Far too young. 

As soon as we realised the severity of the situation, 

I made a heart for Lucy and I will be reminded of this “Heart for Lucy” 

every time I look at the blanket.  

I saw the heart a little while before Lucy got sick 

and copied it as I remembered it. 

I love it and the original comes from Snovej.com, Marina's heart pillow. 

Lucy held the heart just before she passed away and also the blanket 

which she had asked me to bring for her to see when we first started the CAL.  

She loved all the hooking I did and she was making booties 

for babies in hospitals until she had the stroke. 

I now will put the ribbons in them.  

Lucy really didn’t like putting the ribbons in the booties 

and although I offered to do it for her on many occasions, 

she never took me up on the offer.

Lucy wanted four red roses on her coffin, one for each of her children. 

Today the rose is fully open. Beautiful.

Today I think “I must tell Lucy that.”  

I guess it will take a while to be comprehended fully that I can’t do that. 

I will miss her and always remember her with enormous love and passion. 

The colours in the heart are colours Lucy loved.  

Memories of Lucy by Gwenda.

***********************************

Here you can see a photo of Marina's beautiful pattern
Gwenda has used as an inspiration for her "Lucy Heart".

So, that's my heart I've planted
for all the beloved persons
I've already lost on in my life.
There were so many memories
coming over me while creating it.
I've used Marina's Two-Color-Spiral tutorial for my heart.
(And have learned to create a magic ring with one of her photos!)
And I've planted a Forget-me-not flower on it.
Because I think it's important
to keep beloved persons in our thoughts.
(Even it can hurt badly!)
And maybe also a little bit because
I don't wanna be forgotten myself
when I'm gone.
In german this flower has the same meaning & name:
"Vermiss-mein-nicht"
Isn't it a beautiful name?!

Here is a picture of me with my CAL,
MariaElena wanted to see a photo & her wish is my order! ;-)
Two of my favourite things on it:
My CAL & Zooty Owl's Road Trip Scarf ;-)

And now some of you are maybe interested
why you are all princesses & princes for me.
I will write down my first intention now:

It needs a lot of courage to leave the patterns
& to go your own way.
Freeforming also means
to create your own rules
& not to follow a structure given by another mind.
It's art, it's a cure for our inner child
& you need fantasy & the ability to dream to create something unique.
Art brings us in touch with our feelings,
what we actually are.
And all of you have found YOUR way in this adventure.
That's only one reason for me
why I have planted a crown on top of my
CAL Club Heart,
I will tell you one more next week...

Dream on & stay awesome you wonderful beings!
Your friend Dada or Julia - whatever you prefer ;-)

Let me see your art in Marina's Freeform Crochet World Group, on Dada Neon Crochet or Ravelry

YOUR Personal Freeform CAL! - Week 9

So many new CAL members these days!!! You have missed the first 8 weeks, too? We don't have time pressure at all, if you want to join our adventure you will find the first puzzle piece here!

Such an exciting week with so many new members!!!

One of our new CAL friends - Shawn - had a brilliant idea!

But first I will show you some progress pictures & works of new CAL friends!!!

Have a look at these beautiful eye creations for the project of week 8!

The size of the pictures has nothing to do with me by the way!

I'm creating them with Picasa & this software just does what it does!!!

And these are the projects of our lovely new CAL friends
& more progress pictures of good old members!!!

We have 17 official members now!!!

(Hello again to our inofficial Freeform friends!)

Thank you to all my CAL Club members
who are sharing this art adventure with me!

Roberta, Jodie, Ulrike, Gwenda, Sandy
(This lady makes me flabbergasted - many weeks after she has joined this CAL
I found out by myself that she has an Etsy-Shop
& a Facebook page called Sandy's Sundries!!!
Sandy: You are a damn special person,
so glad to have you in this team!),
Alicia (Marcalic's Creations),

Marina (Snovej),
Anouk (Een steekje verder), 

MariaElena (Have a fabulous time in Canada!), 

Lin (Crochet in Colour) - I hope you have all seen her 6-finger-hand!!!,
Shawn (Dragonbird Creations)...
I have to write a few words about Shawn...
She has made something unbelievable:
It took her a week to catch up with my own progress!
I've had her amazing Freeform Blanket in my favourites on Ravelry,
searched for her on Facebook & was shocked:
82 likes & such a wonderful page!
I've asked her if she would be interested in joining our CAL
& I'm so glad she did it!
The idea I've realized for this week is hers, too...

Shawn is awesome, isn't she? ;-)
But let me go on:
We have Lisbeth in our team now with her non-reversible expressionistic style,
we have a new CAL friend in Jane from Scotland - she loves spirals
& I'm sure we can expect even more spirals in her beautiful growing CAL,
there is Tracy with her gorgeous page Eden Reborn -
she came to the brilliant idea to crochet all hands of her family members...
We have Jenny in our team now with her fabulous page Craft Cove
& it's a special pleasure for me to tell you that my friend
Donna of Walker's Whimsies has decided
to join us as well!!!

Wow! So much to write but now it's time to present you the project of week 9!
Shawn has given me her inspiration for this week...
We will yarnpaint our favourite song!!!
Music is something damn important.
And everyone has a special song with a special meaning.
I've already showed you my favourite Song two weeks ago:
"Welcome Home" by Radical Face.
I've used some lines of the lyrics for my own project:

"Ships are launching from my chest,
Some have names but most do not
If you find one, please let me know what piece I've lost"

Haha, you can't see the ships!!!

I've ordered small ship patches, my ship experiments were looking too funny!

I need smaller hooks!

Here you can see a picture of my CAL...

If you aren't sure about your favourite song
listen to some music you love.
You will feel it.
If your favourite song doesn't have lyrics
yarnpaint what you feel when you are listening to it.
If it's a classical composer who gave birth to a melody:
Yarnpaint her or him!
I've done it before with my favourite composer Bach!

If you aren't sure how to paint it, ask me on Facebook,

I have too much fantasy & will surely find inspirations for you.

I've added my own Swirly Heart & it is wearing a crown.

The heart is a symbol for all of my CAL friends.

Even if it may take some time - all of you will receive one.

In the following weeks I will tell you step by step

why you are princesses & princes for me.

If you attach the heart to your CAL or not:

I want you to add a crown yourself

when you are reading one of my reasons

while having the feeling:

This crazy crochet woman is speaking the truth:

I am a princess - or a prince!

Let me see your art on Facebook or Ravelry

& don't forget to stay awesome!

Your friend Dada

YOUR Personal Freeform CAL! - Week 8

You are interested in joining YOUR Personal Freeform CAL? That's wonderful! 

It's never to late to start this project
& we are always amazed about new members! 

Here you can find the link to the puzzle piece of week 1!

Some gorgeous new puzzle pieces went into our CAL Album!

Yesterday I had a look at the settings of my page account -

I have recognized that it wasn't possible to tag someone in a photo.

I've changed it & so everyone of you has the possibility to click on 

your puzzle piece & to tag yourself in your photo.

It will appear on your private profile if you do so.

As all of you can be proud of your growing CALs

you should use this opportunity.

At the moment we are 11 official members including myself

(A warm "Hello!" to the secret members as well!):

Roberta, Jodie, Ulrike, Gwenda, Sandy

(a few days ago I realized she has a cute etsy-shop called Sandy's Sundries!),

Alicia of Marcalic's Creations, 

Marina who offers us wonderful freeform tutorials on her webpage Snovej,

Anouk of Een steekje verder & our lovely new member MariaElena!

Hmmm... Eleven?!

I have to introduce someone to you:

Some of you already know her & her page -

it's Lin of Crochet in Colour.

Maybe you have read the words I wrote about her & this extraordinary page

when I've shared her facebook page a few days ago.

Every word came straight from my heart &

I really think she's giving her "lovelies" a virtual home just by being herself.

Lin is offering more than beautiful pictures,

she is interested in us & our projects and makes facebook a better place.

She has started crocheting last year &

her facebook page (founded in April!) has reached 3000 likes today.

I have to mention her Etsy shop - 

you can find a few products in there 

& you can also order them in your favourite colours.

I don't wanna share her story here - 

it has a reason why she can't work in a regular job anymore.

Of course I would be able to crochet this clock in her shop by myself 

but as soon as my own financial situation is better I will order a neon clock.

Because it's crocheted by Lin & because she's a person worth supporting.

She doesn't promote her small business in a way other people do it,

many of her followers won't even have an idea that this shop exists -

that's why I have to write about it.

Here is her first puzzle piece & it's sooo beautiful!

This week we will create one of our eyes!

Sandy & Alicia have already integrated eyes in their CALs

but I think they can totally go for this project as well!

There's something special about our eyes -

I'm sure all of you have heard the expression

"Your eyes are the door to your soul".

Even if we wouldn't have a language to communicate

we can read a lot in the eyes of someone.

You can start this project in different ways:

If you have a good camera you can use a photo

but of course you can also use a mirror & draw a sketch...

It's quite difficult to take a photo of an eye,

here you can find a tutorial...

A friend has tried to take a picture of my eye with my camera -

failed (I have a real cheap camera)!

I've asked Lela - my beloved flatmate - 

if she could have a try with her real good camera...

It has worked!

I've played around a little bit with the free software Picasa,

you can use a lot of different options,

I've improved the picture in the end with the filter "cinemascope"

to improve the contrast.

If you are sucessful in the eye photo shooting

you can just zoom the picture of it to the size you want to have it in your CAL.

It'll be your model & you can just start with a circle...

There's so much going on in our eyes!!!

Too much! A few of you already know that this project was driving me crazy!

After several experiments with different techniques

I gave up creating the eye in a real natural way -

Last night I've started a new version I quite like 

even if it doesn't look as natural as I wanted.

I just didn't want to have a puzzle piece I don't love in my CAL.

I will add some more pictures of my completed project in the next days ;-)

The eyelashes & details are missing

but my friend Donna of Walker's Whimsies

has a lot of experience in teaching different kinds of crafts -

I think embroidery is perfect to "paint" smaller details

& she has already offered to give us a virtual workshop...

PLEASE be as abstract as you want, there's nothing harder to crochet on earth!

I have strange brown patterns in my eye - but just on top!

Added green by crocheting around...

It's not finished yet but I'll show you the completed version soon!

I already know where I will place my Swirly Heart...

Next to the house.

Gwenda wrote me "home is where your heart is" & so I will follow her example!

Psychedelic neon waves created by playing around with different stitches!

In the end I wanna celebrate Jodie's house boat -

her dream house is floating.

Today was quite stressful for me

but I've received such caring & funny support from some of you -

you have made my day!

We were chatting in the Freeform Crochet World Group

about sailing around with Jodie's house boat one day -

all CAL Club members together.

We would just yarnbomb Jodie's floating home &

spend a gorgeous crochet time together.

It's damn important to have dreams &

almost nothing is impossible!

Maybe, one day... Why not?!

Show me your future creations on Dada Neon Crochet or Ravelry!

;-)

Stay awesome,

your friend Dada