Friday Friends- Dusty Divas - Lizet Frijters & Living Earth Gallery

Welcome my dear readers to a new edition of Friday Friends. In this 3rd Dusty Divas edition, I want you to meet a Dusty Diva who embraces textile creation in the most amazing way - meet the gorgeous Lizet of Living Earth Gallery.



I was captivated by the variety of textures and love the flowing feminine lines in Lizet's work and once I started browsing her store I knew I had to feature her as a Dusty Diva. I am amazed by her creations and the variety of goodies she has on offer.

These are a few of my favourite items from Lizet's ETSY store. This hat is so beautiful - Lizet explained how this was made in her item description : "I made this one of a kind vintage doily hat through the wet felting process. I felted organic merino wool, dyed in a peach colour with natural dyes, and a vintage doily together. This hat is really cute and would suit anyone who loves vintage, romance and beauty."


I love the colours in this Grey Eco Dyed Upcycled Skirt created by a dye made from casuarina leaves and rust. As Lizet says : "The result is truly amazing and can not be duplicated. It is nature's print."

How about a set of 6 Print it Yourself Greeting Cards Beautiful Features made with the images out of Lizet's card game Living Landscapes. The originals were painted in watercolour by Lizet.


I really love the rich colour and amazing textures in this scarf and as Lizet explained in her item description : "I wanted to give this violet cotton fabric a new life, which I did by upcycling it by nuno felting. I felted circles on the fabric with purple organic merino wool, dyed with natural dyes. The border is in crochet and than felted with the rest"
And as some of you may know by now, I am quite partial to handbags & purses and was quite drawn to the simple yet intricate design of this Green Curly Little Felt Purse - it is so cute !

Lovely readers, I really enjoyed working with Lizet to create this blogpost and find her story fascinating - I hope you do to. I invite you to take the time to pop your feet up, brew a cuppa and to read Lizet's story.


The Fantastical Fairytale of Lizet Fritjers & the Living Earth Gallery


I was born in the flamish part of Belgium and in 1988, we moved to South of France, where we had an organic farm. 10 years later, we had 3 children by then, we decided to start travelling and look for a more tropical climate to live.

After traveling to Portugal, the Caribbean and Brazil, we decided to try Australia in 1998.

It was for me as if this was my home, we all liked it here and are now temporary residents. Our goal is to become permanent residents this year??? Let's hope.

I grew up in a family where textile was as much part of life as any other daily task. My grandmother and mother were always sewing, knitting and crocheting.

As I had these examples of what life was about, I started knitting my own underwear at five. I was only allowed to make underwear at that age, as my mother was perfectionist and of course no one could see my mistakes when they were hidden.

Dropped stitches were rescued and in case this wasn't possible anymore, it had to be undone. Basically, I was trained to become a perfectionist myself, which has positive and negative sides. I try to heal myself of that now. I learned a lot from that, one thing for sure is that I now love detail.

When I was in the first year of the primary school, we learned knitting. It was very boring for me, because at that age, I was already knitting with 4 needles and had to sit down and learn stitch by stitch to knit with 2 needles.

When I was a teenager, I started other textile crafts, I did a 4 year course in bobbin lace, learned spinning, macrame, weaving. In 1985, I did a 3 day felting workshop. When I realised what a tremendous possibilities there are in this wonderful craft, I haven't stopped experimenting and I never will.

As we live in tropical Far North Queensland, I have adapted my work to the warmer climate and make more nuno felting. Sometimes, however, I love to create a piece for the colder winters.

I am very passionate about experimenting with textures by using various materials.

I dye my wool and silk with natural dyes, that's another passion that I have and I also love recycling. I get a lot of satisfaction out of creating something out of scratch, or using recycled materials into my felt making. My goal is to constantly improve the sustainability and the quality of my work.

I am ready to create more higher end work, maybe wedding dresses and other nuno felted dresses. I also like to make some more wall pieces this year and organise an exhibition. I try to provide work in different price ranges.

Designing and making co-operative ecological board and card games is another part of my business. I have 2 different games for sale and want to get more published this year.

Do I ever sleep? Not much. Apart from my business, I have other hobbies, I love gardening and I am also part of the local permaculture group. I am going to start a homeopathy course this year as well. And yes, sometimes I take time to meditate. I just can't believe that someone can get bored!


Here are a few places where you can find Lizet & Living Earth Gallery online:

Buy Lizet's gorgeous goodies online at

Etsy :

http://lizetfrijters.etsy.com

or her websites :

http://lizetfrijters.com


http://livingearthgames.com.au

Connect through

Facebook :

http://www.facebook.com/lizetfrijters

Twitter :

http://twitter.com/lizetfrijters

Flickr :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lizetfrijters/

Blogspot :

http://lizetfrijters.blogspot.com