Eyes Of Time

Needle felting with Bamboo....(yes you can !)and other experiments

2012-01-29T17:29:00.000-06:00

Still having a blast playing with creating fuzzy textures on my needle felt animals . This guy is my favorite for this past 2 week . Over the base of wool I added a nice thick layer of alpaca then a layer of silk and alpaca blend so when I used the reverse barb needle I got a long haired halo of alpaca "fur" . He is super soft and petable .

On his back, I used several alternating layers of bamboo roving . I love the shine and softness of this stuffand it felts very firmly into the wool/alpaca sculpture .

....and this time it was my cat Baloo who decided to get into the photo shoot .

Here's the whole crew .....

Probably my least favorite , still working on my tendency to make grumpy animals .

But his back is a lovely bamboo luster....(the tail belongs to my cat)

It's a bit hard to see from the picture but I did reverse felt his face and limbs so he has a halo of alpaca fluff and the rest is alpaca and silk rooted to his front and back .

I tried a more subtle color merino on this guys "skin"....burnt almond . I do like it for a more realistic look but still prefer the cartoonish "pink" for over all contrast with the brown critters .

Well, that's it for awhile. I have spent the past few days hunting down some more base fiber that is brown and doesn't cost $4 an ounce . Harder then you would think but I do have 9 pounds of brown alpaca winging it's way here soon .

Happy felting .

Practicing fuzzy texture surfaces on Needle felt animals

2012-01-19T21:10:00.000-06:00

It took several hours to clear my photo table off and guess who decided to join the photo shoot ?

I did ask him to politely to leave but was greeted by the usual cat look of disdain .

" Surely you jest madam "

This group of felted animal I worked on texture and posing . Above critter is raised slightly on his right back paw and has mostly a smooth coat of alpaca and silk with the pink merino toes .

The above critter in the next few pics is a combination of all my textures....very smooth merino on the "skin" bits of lips and toes . The paws are tightly compacted but with a hairier alpaca/silk blend but I used a new technique with the upper limbs, body and face . It involves using a reverse barb felting needle . I first learned about these from one of my favorite bear makers . She provided a link to a needle felter who is selling some of these reverse barb needles that will soon be discontinued and you can find her through this link....http://desertmountainbear.blogspot.com/search?q=reverse+barb+needles

If you have a few hours, please check out her other posts as she is the most generous crafter and shares her process step by step and her bears are amazing .

If you click on the picture, you can hopefully get a better idea of the different textures but I need to experiment more on what textures can be created using different layering of different animal fibers . I tend to use soft to medium fibers even for my cores....merino to colonial but avoid coarser fibers like Romney . I would imagine that the length of the core fiber that you pull out will effect both the softness and length of the resulting "fur" .

Another technique I have been using for the past few years involves making a sort of "wig" over my hard felted animal . There are several different ways to do this but my personal favorite involves lining the hairs up so they are all about the same length (hard to explain but not hard to do with roving) . I then lay down the section over the area I am covering and poke in the middle of the fibers . You don't want these to come out so you need to do a lot of poking . When it is fairly secure I lay a cross section of fibers horizontally and poke them over the fiber section to further secure them . Think of it as using the horizontal fibers as your "thread" and the felting needle as your sewing machine needle that is pushing the thread over the material to attach to the animal . (I have no idea if that makes any sense but if you want further explanation, just leave a comment and I will try and explain it better ) .

You can then fold the top of this section down and create a full shaggy look . It takes a bit of practice but I really like the durability and look of the end result .

I will warn you, the reverse felting needles take a lot of use to get the fuzzy effect but you can create a sort of velvet texture with lots of persistence or less hair pulled out creates a more sparse look similar to the vintage "worn mohair" bears .

Not really related to texture but I have also been playing around with animal posture that speaks to be personally . I like having one leg out straight so you get the best view of the little pink toes and one leg bent at different angles , partially bent back, which gives a slightly more animated look then having both limbs symmetrical . I'm trying to do the same things with the arms and head position .

Above just shows one very simple "furring" technique to just add accents . You lay matching fiber towards the end of the area you want long hair and felt in the top portion . Just remember that the fibers "shrink" as they are pushed into the sculpture so make sure you have the portion you want loose at the ends long enough . I leave my edges uneven to look more natural but you can get a different look by trimming the ends evenly . You can also create several layers this way by starting at the end and doing several layers back towards the back of the limb or body .

So , although I realize that many of you are wet felters, I hope that some of these techniques can be helpful to add some "fuzzy" textures to your wet felt work .

Happy felting !

Last of needle felt animals ..... 2011

2012-01-02T17:53:00.000-06:00

This is as close to a "real" looking critter that I have ever made . Reality has always come harder to me then fantasy ......(just ask my mother) . The egg is there to show size and offer my camera a white balance but the picture were taken indoors before sunset, so still not very good .

All my felting is a mix of wool and alpaca with either Ingeo(white) or blends of alpaca and silk for the top layer and "furring" . I am completely sold on alpaca and silk blends for doing animal fur . It is so soft yet doesn't clump/mat like merino .

I just finished the below guy last night and he took several days longer then usual because of the pain killers I was taking for my most recent tooth extraction . On the plus side, the stray needle pokes to my fingers didn't hurt as much : )

I hate felting around wires but decided this guy needed wired toes....soooo, if you want to make his toes curl more, you have that option .

Below feltie reminds me of a gold prospector and was probably unconsciously inspired from watching that Gold Rush show . I was never a fan of gold, but watching the miners destroy the environment makes me like it even less....yet, I find the show compelling , go figure .

This is probably my least favorite for the month but hopefully his soft Ingeo fur and big eyes will make him appealing to someone .

Below are my only small critters for the month and strike me as rather "generic" compared to the larger critters . The only take a night to make but it's harder for me to give the little ones as interesting posture or expressions . Or maybe I'm just bias because I like my critters to be an arm full and not just a handful ?

It's been a very long month . Continued health issues and removal of 3 teeth have resulted in a general lack of energy . It hasn't stopped my felting but has put a strain on my blogging .( If somethings got to give...the needle will be the last to go . )

I hope everyone else enjoyed their holidays and has many blessings for the new year .

fuzzy feathery fur in needle felting

2011-12-15T14:11:00.000-06:00

This guy reminds me of something you might see in Seussville . He took 4 days of felting, mostly because of all the Ingeo(white silky corn fiber) and alpaca/silk blended "fur" that I needled on the surface . I recently bought some alpaca roving and some golden dyed silk roving but don't own anything to blend them so just tried to take thin sections of each and layer them . The resulting "fur" reminds me more of feathers then fur but feels absolutely heavenly . I'm hoping that the thin layer of silk between the alpaca, will keep it form matting up over time .

I'ld be glad to do a tutorial on this if anyone is interested in trying it , just let me know in comments section .

new Fulji camera for needle felting photos...(thanks santa)

2011-12-09T04:50:00.000-06:00

Two new critters both with outer coats of alpaca and silk . Love the texture and have some more roving on the way . The smaller figure is 8" and his brother is 10" and wearing some fluffy leggings of Ingeo .

These are my first pictures with my new Early Christmas present, a Fuji camera that I got for a great price during the cyber marathon shopping spree . I'm just playing with it for now but have ambitious plans to read the instruction book for it ....(that would be a first, I hate reading instructions since I learn better by watching someone or at the least observing pictures of the process .) I was impressed with the cameras tolerance of the low lighting night pictures .

I also bought Coral paint shop photo editing software but still haven't learned to use it so these are still edited with the Picassa which is just such a simple and intuitive photo program .

That's it for now, been slowing down with the felting the past few weeks as I am literally running out of places to put my felting . I'm hoping this week will be a chance to get some descent pictures and list a few items on Etsy . Wish it had been in time for Christmas but maybe next year ?

Happy Holidays and good felting to all .

I'm driving myself nuts with these huge needle felt animals

2011-11-29T03:35:00.000-06:00

This guy is eight inches high about 12 inches if he was standing . The frustrating thing is that I began him with the full intention of going back to my smaller (and less time consuming and less wool hogging), small animals . I really can't figure out why I keep making these larger ones when I am running out of places to put them and they would be so much harder to sell (and make over $2 an hour) . I also managed to make his checks and eyes uneven and am not sure if I will be able to fix it ...... so time, wool and oops .

and after all that, I managed to make the next one twice as big . I obviously needed a break from felting until I can regain control over my needle, so......

I spent the past 4 days on line shopping for some Christmas presents for my BF and myself .....and not a scrap of wool amongst the gifts . (Though..... I did get a good deal on a large foam mattress topper that I will probably end up cutting up for felting mats ....and a couple of huge pasta pots that I bought from Herbergers to use for dyeing wool BUT they emailed and said....sorry but we are out of those !!!!!(I'm so mad at them I could spit fire and wont be shopping there again...don't mess with a wool addict, says I )......and a new camera that I am writing off as a business expense so I can list my stuff on-line for sale...HAHAHA, (Been saying that for years and my shop on Etsy is still empty ) .

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed your crafting, Holidays and or shopping . I think I need to go back to felting before I end up bankrupt . (Idle hands are the devils playground, indeed ).

Giving thanks for some weird new needle felt friends

2011-11-20T23:24:00.000-06:00

I don't know "what" he is but I bet he would give good hugs with such long arms . He has a deep purple bottom and lots of super soft light brown alpaca and silk "fur" which takes forever to root in but feels so good . As you may have noticed, I also bought some giant eyes . He's about 12 inches tall and a pound or so of wool . (Not sure how accurate my scale is right now . )

It's not easy to tell from this picture, but this is my largest sculpture since my dragon . I think he would be about 3 feet tall if he were standing and is over 2 pounds of mixed wool, alpaca and of course Ingeo for the white hair rooted in . He took a little less then a week to make which is kind of ironic? because I always thought that the longer I felted the faster I would be able to make animals but it seems like I have just started making larger, more complex animals resulting in longer felting time .

This guy turned out a bit like a goatish troll with really long arms and fat little toes . His bearding and hair is the alpaca and silk blend that I have fallen in love with....(and will need to restock soon.)

Above the below are my "normal" size critters with a mix of wool and alpaca . Again, I seem to have reverted to my psychotic and moppy looks on these .

All the gang wishs you happy Thanksgiving and happy felting !

Baby Chupacabra has no spikes !

2011-11-03T14:43:00.000-05:00

Well, that's what my BF said when he saw my latest felted critter . After googeling images of Chupacabra, I can see that mine is not nearly ferocious enough looking .I'm considering adding fangs and spines but right now this guy looks more like he would cuddle up to a goat, not suck it's blood . This is actually another do-over of one of my first felts.I think it illustrates how you can "save" a poorly done sculpture by felting over it .

Other then the raised paw, there is little left of the original design . I removed the eyes and covered over the base sculpture with some much better wool . Luckily, many of my first critters were not felted stone hard so are easier to felt over . Here are a few more pictures of the end result....(I'm practicing some photography so pardon the extra pics but I wanted to see what they look like off Picasa .....

Something else new for me, but barely noticeable in these pictures, is a needle that I purchased from Woolgatherings , It has reverse barbs on it that pulls the fiber out and gives a fuzzy halo to the firmly felted surface , (it only works if you felt things firmly). My results were mixed as it's a new tool for me but it does give a softer feel to the surface but the hairs are pretty short, at least with the Merino I use .

My second do-over for the week is another that is barely recognizable from the original ......

This is the original cartoonish dog with some very weird proportions and here are several shots of my Chewbaca type puppy do-over with some lovely alpaca and silk fur felted in ......

I've always been bad at making realistic animals but this guy almost look like a real dog to me (with just a pinch of a pink nosed Chewbaca thrown in . )

It;s been a slow week of felting with only these two guys being completed but I'm enjoying doing the felt "do-overs", it's fun watching something transform .

Happy fall and felting to all

Happy Birthday Wool from Detta's Spindle

2011-10-29T01:32:00.000-05:00

I just turned 48 a few days ago and with generous birthday money gifts from my parents and my Mother in Law I got to stock up on more felting supplies . Above and below are some of the wools I bought from Detta's Spindle . After a year of buying form her on-line, I actually got the privilege of meeting her and her beautiful Standard Poodles and handpicking some of the "animal fur colored" wools . If you click on the pictures, you might be able to read what kind of wool is which but it is mostly colonial and merino with a bit of coopworth and a lovely alpaca/silk blend

I highly recommend her Mill Ends and other fibers as I have always found them a great quality for the price . Thanks again , Detta for sharing you dogs, wool and hospitality .

Standing and sitting Yeti and a couple more do-over felts

2011-10-29T01:09:00.000-05:00

Here's my latest large Yeti with corn fiber felted in as fur . I still need to do a few small touch ups that I didn't notice until I took the picture....one nice thing about checking results with photos is that I seem to find the flaws easier then looking at the 3D in front of me .....weird but true .

Below looks like a Yeti had a baby with a hamster ?

The last three are felties from my first year of felting that I needed to "do-over" . I think it takes almost as long to try and repair an animal as it does to just start from scratch but I really hate to just throw away something with out at least trying to fix it . None of this critters would be on my personal favorite list but perhaps they can be sold at discount and still find homes .

Happy felting .

Are We There Yet (i) Needle sculpted Yeti

2011-10-17T20:05:00.000-05:00

As a fan of all things fuzzy, Yeti have always had a place in my heart . These are two Yeti babies I worked on this weekend . I tried a bit different style with each but they are each made with a base of merino covered in Ingeo(corn fiber) . I think this stuff is the best for creating a nonclumping rooted in hair .

My attempt at a Bigfoot...Northern hemisphere style Yeti.... was less successful . He just looks like a monkey . (A base of merino with alpaca locks .)

Happy felting !

Needle sculpted sounds better then needle felted...more critters

2011-10-14T21:06:00.000-05:00

I know my health issues have limited my blogging but it hasn't discouraged me from felting animals . Since last I blogged, I have created 4 more large critters and three small ones . I also worked on several old sculptures and made minor improvements though I doubt the changes would be noticeable to the casual observer . The above critter is mostly merino blends with some corn fiber fluff on the tail, chest and ears .

As usual, my cat Balhoo decided to get in on the photo shoot . He really is an attention hog .

I also finally bought a white back ground for taking pictures....to block out the distracting clutter of my apartment and hopefully make more professional pictures for listing on Etsy . It turned out to be to big for the table I used today but hopefully I can get a bigger table cleared off soon .

Most of my animals this past month have had similar wool and coloring but each is a bit different in shape and have unique personalities and expressions . Unfortunately, my "facial expression vocabulary" is still a bit on the dark side . Some where between "homocidal lunatic" to "snarky know it all" and "oops, missed my Prozac" . I have an uncomfortable theory that these may actually be the same expressions that people see on my own face...and probably why I repel people .

Instead of using a chicken egg for size reference, I am using one of my own felted eggs .

Although this guy is the "snarky" one, he is also my favorite .

The last three are many little critters....about 3-4" .

The new cat arm chair is still very popular . When they aren't fighting over who gets to use it. they occasionally manage to share . While having a black cat and a white cat may make picking a clothing color that hides cat hair impossible, it does add a nice "yin and yang" balance to the decor .

I'm going for a sleep apnea test next week, to rule out (or in), one possible cause of my current narcoleptic existence . In the mean time....

Happy felting to all .

Zombie miraculously recovers from stupor and makes more needle felt and art scarves !

2011-09-22T10:10:00.000-05:00

Above are my two latest felties posing in front of my first "winged beastie ". Because I was so tired this past week...I decided to work smaller then my usual 12-18 inch felties and these guys are only about 6 inches .

I also finished up several wet felt scarves and have been really trying hard to create more thin, drapey fabric with only two thin layers of merino with silk bells on either one side or both . I like to make each side of the scarf different so that it you can have two scarves for the price of one . Although I designed them originally with the idea that they would be a wrap around the neck winter type scarf......I think they actually look cooler just worn draped around the neck and hanging down . Like hanging an abstract painting on your boobs . Now when guys eyes end up on that area you can just assume it is in appreciation of your art scarf .

Sorry about some of the blurry pictures but I lost my light about half way through....

The above are only 4 scarves but with the different front and back it does look like more . Now the real challenge for me will be seeing if I can get these listed on Etsy before spring .

I'm so tired I want to cry............

2011-09-18T03:51:00.000-05:00

I have felt like I was swimming underwater for the past few months...under water with concrete weights on my arms and legs and a bag over my head . I have considered going to the DR but even if I could afford it....they seem to be trained to respond to all female complaints ..."it's probably depression or maybe stress" . If I smoked or was "over weight" they would probably say that was the cause . What happened to Dr actually running tests ? So....I keep felting when I am actually able to stay awake and hope that what ever this is clears up or kills me because I am soooo tired of being tired .

I'm not sure why, but my animals have been showing a bit of teeth lately. I think it is my attempt to get them to smile, and like me, forced smiles do tend to look like your ready to bite someone rather then an actual smile .

Other news.....I made an attempt to sew up some bags with the wet felt fabric I made last year . The design couldn't be any simpler but is still a challenge for my limited sewing skill, especially adding a lining .

I found this tiny arm chair on the curb with a "free" sign and decided to chance any possible infestations.....seems OK so far and the cats love it .

Wet felting with silk caps and hankies

2011-08-27T17:13:00.000-05:00

The above are different shots of my latest nuno felt scarf/cape . Fall doesn't feel very far away now, so I wanted to work on wet felting again . The above has a hand dyed chiffon silk base with a layer of black merino and topped with some silk bell caps and hankies . Lots of color and texture going on ,hopefully not to much .

I also worked on three different pieces with black merino and silk caps . I had been wanting to do this since last spring when I went on wet felting break and with fall in the air, seemed like a good time to try it . I will defiantly be making more of these as I love the black roving coming through the random colors of silk hankies . All three are felted to different hardness, the softest will make a nice fluffy scarf and the other two will be sewn into small bags .

One side has the silk hankies and the other is some BFL roving in blue/green that I bought on Etsy .

The above is a nice thick fabric using merino sprinkled with blue alpaca "seconds" . Seconds are the thicker, less desirable cuts that feel a bit like mohair to me . I wouldn't personally wear them but they add a lot of texture for things like bags or table runners .

I also did 2 needle felt animals.....one is a small dog sitting in a new position for me ,leaning on a paw.

He is mostly merino with a mohair tuft of a tail .

My second feltie is in honor of the Felt United day which specified colors in red, blue and purple but allows for 3% "other" (which is the pink I used for the nose) . The blue is actually more teal, at least it seems to me that the purple brings out the green tones, I hope it's exceptable .

So that was my week and my thoughts are with those on the east coast, hoping they are all safe from Irene ....Good night Irene !

needle felt in the wild....

2011-08-21T20:12:00.021-05:00

Been 2 weeks of none stop headaches, so not much blogging or felting getting done . Did make it outside my apt to get these last two friends photoed and hope to get to the DR's soon to clear up the banging head . Still plan on finishing the needle felt tutorial, for what little it's worth .

I also had problems with blogger when I exceeded my photolimit and had to buy more space but before I could do it , had to scan and send my ID to prove it was me...(spoiler alert...it WAS me and I finally got more storage so will try and get last tutorial done this week.)

Happy felting

latest three needle felt animals

2011-08-08T09:57:00.000-05:00

I didn't needle felt that egg...I just added it to give a little size perspective on the animals I make . I know a lot of felters make miniatures but I can't afford the band-aids...(finger pokes) . The above are the "usual sizes I tend to make though I've done a few twice the size of the largest here .

The above is mostly different blends of merino and alpaca with a corn fiber "puff" on his tail . I wanted to make a sculpture that had a bit more of an angular movement to it . I think one of the nice things about needle felting is that it is much easier to make an animal in a non-symmetrical body position then when you are designing a sewn animal pattern . In this way, it is much more like sculpting with clay .

This guys one of my favorites . At least he looks cute to me and not psychopathic as some of my felties . He is a mix of wool and mohair with fluffy white corn fiber covering everything but the snout and arms .

Maybe you have noticed, I seem to be developing my own "style"...despite the diversity of my animals, I think they are starting to have some consistency which is fine as long as I don't get stuck in a rut . So far, there is still enough differences that I am not bored .

Back to to tutorial tonight,( hopefully) and then I can't felt again with out guilt .

Needlefelting sculptures / tutorial, part three....let the poking begin !

2011-08-08T02:36:00.000-05:00

Firstly, this is not a tutorial on all needle felting but creating a 3D sculpture . Not everything that applies to one kind of felting applies to other kinds of felting . Also, I've only been needle felting about 2 and a half years and most of what I learned was trial and error....(looking at my first sculptures, a LOT of error) . It is one of the best teachers, though a time consuming one . I'm hoping that I can share some of what I've learned but what works best for my mind may not be what works for yours . We all see things differently and my Aspergers may mean that some of the things I find most challenging may not be a problem for you...and vice-versa .Please read my previous tutorials on "materials" and "fiber" if you haven't already ).

The basic principle of needle felting...a sharp needle has tiny barbs that open the scales on the fiber so that they can be inter locked and create a more dense mass. However, this is only one part of the process . The needle point is also pushing fiber into empty spaces in the direction that you are poking . This principle is just as important as the fiber displacment is what will create some of the fullness in some areas and depressions in other areas, depending of how you hold your needle .

To being this sculpture you will make the body base . I took a couple handfuls of batting and rolled them into a loose tube shape and used my 4 needle holder to poke the center bit to hold it in place . As mentioned in second part of tutorial on fiber, use your medium coarse fiber to create the core of your sculpture .

If your using roving instead of batts, you can do the same thing by tearing apart 8 equal sections of roving about 12inches each (no cutting, roving should only be gently pulled into sections .) Lay 6 sections together and poke the very middle together a few times . Take last two 12 inch sections and split in half and place over very center and poke down another few times .

Using a batt or roving...divide the top and bottom of the "tube" into two equal sections and begin shaping . These will be the arms and legs .

You don't want to poke this hard at this stage because you will be adding you top fibers over this X shape .

Above, I have laid my top fiber...merino mixed with a bit of alpaca and mohair is my favorite blend for top fibers . It gives softness and a nice hairy natural look . Here is another important thing to remember about needle felting....begin felting at one end of the fiber strip of roving your adding on and hold loose enough that the fiber can move...ie...the fibers you are poking are going into the bottom fibers and you will have a smoother surface if you poke one section firm before you move to the next section . Does that make sense...(this is really, really hard for me to explain but feel free to contact me if you need some clarification on anything here .)

You will cover the whole X shape in outer fiber and if any base fiber show through just add a bit more top coat and felt over it . You only want to poke enough to make sure that the outer layer is staying in place but not a hard shape because we are going to adjust it into a sitting position before we hard felt it .

I wanted him sitting so I decided to add large back paws separately and felted them onto leg . When your adding appendages to another section, wither it is an ear to a head or foot to a leg you can simply poke it into the other section (which is why it's important not to felt to hard yet . ) To cover the "seam", you just add a thin layer of the same color roving over both sections and felt down . If you do accidentally felt a piece to firmly and there isn't enough lose fiber to join the two pieces you can try and add a bit of loose fiber between the sections you are joining . This is similar to what clay sculptures do using a muddy clay called "slip" <---(I learned that in seventh grade art class )

****One thing that always confused me when I was reading about needle felting was something I kept seeing repeated...."Never poke at an angle, keep your needle at a 90 degree angle ." The reasoning is that you can easily break your needle but...only if you pull it out at a different angle then you put it in . I move my needle at every angle because I want to felt fibers in every direction . This may be good advice if your felting into something very hard...like doing aplica' on denim or thick wet felted base material but it doesn't apply when you are shaping a felted sculpture until it gets very hard . Especially if you are using a 38 needle, which is relatively strong . So to clarify, it is not the angle that you put your needle in that will break it but hitting something hard in the fiber....(like a wire)or pulling it out of fiber crookedly . keep your aim straight when you are pulling the needle out and you can put it in any angle .

I like toes, and they are really easy, so don't be afraid of adding detail to your paws . All mine are like cartoon characters...4 toes only . I begin my felting a line in the center fairly firmly and then two on equal sides . I do the front of the paw first then flip and do the edge leading onto the bottom . then flip to the top of foot again and then add the paw pad toes .

Animals have different skin tones just like humans but I do have a personal preference for pink because it just stand out so well on the natural color wools I use . It only takes a small bit of fiber to make the toe, try a few before you add them because you can add more if they felt in to small but it;s much harder to remove them : ) Again, you don't want them to hard before you add them, some fiber needs to go into the foot to adhere it . One little trick in rolling up a nice small ball is adding a small bit of water to the palm of your hand and rolling it into a ball before felting it into place . Simply poke in the center to adhere and work from the inside out....ALways work from the inside out because that is how the fiber shrinks . You can get a bit cleaner line by poking the edges inwards one center is felted down .

I basically use my cats feet as "models" cause they are handy (though they don't like it much), but you can use google pictures to check out different animal feet as they are all a bit different .

One of the things you have to get used to when needle felting is that what you are making is going to look horrible for 90% of the time you are working on it...which on a large sculpture can be 10-20 hours .

So, here is the dog covered in base wool and still loosly felted but starting to resemble....something headless.....(Don't leave it around where it can scare the kids ).

If you want a "doll shaped dog, you can skip the next part and just move to the head but I wanted to show how you can sculpt him into a sitting position .

You can sort of see that he is still very pliable at this stage . Although everything is holding together. his front paws can still be firmed into their L shape and the back legs can be bent under neath him . And that's what you do, Put him into the position you want and start poking the jointed areas into their new positions . The front legs are easiest as you only need to lean him forward and poke from leg into foot and foot up into leg . Poke in all different directions but as it firms you will need to be careful to remove your needle straight so it doesn't bend as you remove it .

Back legs are harder and I didn't get a good picture of it but this is not a "real" dog and doesn't have to follow the rules of doggy anatomy . I chose to have my legs sticking out like a human would sit but you could make it more realistic by bending foot down onto mat and adding some more roving to create "haunches" . I do often make my animals like that but thought this style was a bit easier for a first time felter .

I think that is long enough for one post so I will do head and finishing touches in part 4 . Hopefully it wont take me a month to finish . (I hate to think of those kids finding a head less dog while you wait )

happy felting !

Ingeo felting fun...(.I love this stuff)

2011-08-02T19:01:00.000-05:00

Above is my new "favorite"....(I know, it's wrong to have favorite kids but you know it happens) . He's very simple but I think it's the white Ingeo(corn fiber) that gives him such life to me . Looks like those ears might actually be capable of flight .

As usual, my lighting is atrocious and adding Picassa lighting just washes away the details but this guy is also felted with a mix of wool. alpaca and corn fiber detailing on inner arms and a huge fuzzy tail that reminds me of my kitties tail .

I have been a bad, bad blogger....promising to do a tutorial and spending my time felting instead . Sorry about that . It's just so hard for me to try and use words some days(weeks, months) and that has been the hold up....as well as an uncertainty if it will be of any help to anyone and thus worth the effort . I imagine that other bloggers go through those self doubts at times....the "why bothers" of doing something that takes so much time and energy . That never happens when it come to actually felting which is more like...."Just try and stop me , I can't wait to do this, do I really have to stop and eat?"

That said, I did say I was going to do it and I Am still going to give it a shot if for no other reason than to end the guilt of broken commitments . SO, sometime this week, I WILL make the effort though I can not guarantee the out come .

My Music Store guitar toss and donation to Human Society...Claw charms

2011-07-29T22:24:00.000-05:00

Above is my boyfriends home away from home . When I heard they were donating proceeds to the Human Society....<--(the awesome place we have gotten most of our best friends), I asked if I could donate a new felting projecting I had been working on this week . I call them good luck mojo charms...."good luck" in that unlike those creepy rabbits feet charms...these monster paws required no animal slaughter . Ok, these are still creepy but they don't smell like rotting flesh, so that's a selling point right there : )

They took about 3 hours each and I used my new hand made Femo claws, mohair, alpaca and wool. I only had time to do 10 before the fund raiser tomorrow . I also added swivel hooks so they could be used as key chains or hung from belt loops or purse straps but forgot to take pictures of them before my BF dropped them off . I'm hoping they find some use for them to raise money for Human Society because that is a place close to my heart . Not just because I have gotten all my wonderful cats there but because I am an "adopted reject" myself and love when some one is given a second chance at being loved . So head on down to the guitar store tomorrow or down to your own local human society and give 'til it feels good .

Needle felt....... animals in the mist

2011-07-24T02:12:00.000-05:00

Above are my latest needle felt friends . I thought I would try and take some pictures out side and ended up the victem of the freaky summer weather the US has had this summer . In MN , that has been non-stop rain and horrible heat . The result is a camera lens that fogs and gives my animals a bit of a spooky look .

Tutorial on needle felting animals: Part 2 (fiber)

2011-07-18T17:36:00.000-05:00

http://members.peak.org/~spark/feltingwools.html

Above is a link to one of the first sites I visited when trying to learn to needle felt . Although the emphases is on wet felting, there is a great chart on sheep breeds and micron count .

One of the reasons I wanted to do this series of tutorials is that I feel that their is less information available for needle felters and most fiber related articles are directed at spinners, knitters and wet and nuno felting . Although some of this information is helpful for needle felting, some is the opposite to what works best in needle felting . What we all do share is an interest in the fineness or coarseness of the fiber used and this is often described in terms of micron count=diameter of the fiber . The finer the fiber the lower the micron count . The lower the micron count the softer the resulting yarn or felt but also the longer the needle felting time and the more likely to get "poke holes" when felting . SO that is the trade off but there is a solution....

using a medium fiber for the core and covering with a softer merino or alpaca . Speaking of alpaca...here is an interesting article about it......

http://www.alpacadelapacifica.com/textile.html

On of the things that I though most interesting to me was that alpaca has a higher tinsel strength
then similar micron count wool . I believe that silk would be even higher and wonder how the plant fibers compare ? Which brings me to ...what fibers can be needle felted ?
I can only list the ones I have tried so far but I would highly recommend your own experimenting .

You can often buy sample sets of different "luxury" fibers on Etsy as well as different breeds of sheep/alpaca/mohair . If you don't see one in a specific shop that carries a large veriety of different fibers, it doesn't hurt to "convo" the shop and ask if they would make a special order for you .

I have tried several different sheep breeds from coarse Romney to the softest extra fine merino .
I can not say that "this" is the fiber you should use because it depends greatly on what you are making . Romney does needle felt quicker but I don't personally like the coarse surface to work with or touch . However, it does give a nice clean shape with few to no poke holes . Below is the link to one of my favorite artists using a coarser wool . I love the simple lines and amazing detail he achieves with this wool . (He also has some great bug photos and needle felting tips so check out his side links )

http://www.chushka.com/gallery/toys/

Merino is my favorite all around fiber but is not great when doing larger sculpture . I think using a medium coarse fiber batt...if your doing a large sculpture plan on making a lot of felties, a quilters batt is a great investment . One of the nice things about this is that you can divide it into equal sections when you are making, arms, legs, so that you don't end up with an uneven animal . This is one advantage to buying fiber in roving form as well . Handmade batts can often be harder to work with as far as breaking down into even sections as the fiber depth is often more variable .

Other fibers....

Although alpaca farmers hate when I say this, I do not think alpaca is a good base for needle felting . It takes a long time to get it to firm up and the longer fiber which may be great for spinners is actually harder to work with when needle felting . I would say the same thing about mohair but their both the best when it comes to making lovely looking outer surface and root well into a wool base sculpture . Even though I don't make "realistic" animals, I love using the natural colored alpaca on the surface and mohair for adding interesting embellishments .

Other, other fibers...

New experiments have revealed that corn fiber(Ingeo) also makes a wonderful surface fiber for animals . Unlike the merino, when rooted into the base wool and left with the ends loose, to make a "fur" the corn fiber does not end up matting over time . That means that it can be handled more the merino "fur" that felts or pills with to much handling . I suspect the same might be true for the other plant fibers...soy, milk, Eucalyptus, etc . I have also used it to make some nice little horns and teeth and it actually compacts well . I don't know why this works, since I was taught that animal fiber felts do to it's scales but it does hold a hard shape though not as durable on it's own as when mixed with wool .

Silk roving can also be felted into wool but with an important difference....to many fibers can break your needle if you let it bunch up . This is really strong stuff . When I use it I am careful to feed only small bit of fibers under the needle at a time . This is one you should practice with before adding it so you don't end up ruining a nearly completed sculpture but it's worth the effort to learn as it adds a lot of interest in the texture and colors can be amazing .

Buying fiber on-line > Warnings !

Although I buy from larger companies, I have also bought some amazing fiber on-line, Etsy, Ebay and smaller family farms . I've also bought some total garbage . Even 20% "fail" rate can get expensive and be frustrating . For this reason, I would recommend buying small amounts when you are buying from a new to you seller . If reviews are available, read them before buying . I have been sent beautiful wool that reeked of moth balls and wool ruined from poor dying that either burnt the wool or did not hold the dye . I've bought some fiber listed as having been "washed and having small amount of VM<(vegetable matter) that was ready to spin" that was so filth and full of bugs and poo, even several washes could not save it . It is an unfortunately reality that some small business ruin it for the majority of ethical ones that force us into buying form larger companies just to get consistent quality .

As mentioned I do think batts are good if you can get then but I generally buy roving which I am told should actually be called "top" but is almost always listed as roving . Basically it is fiber that has gone through a carder to a line the fiber in the same direction . One of the advantage if this form is that you can easily break it into equal sections to help make sure your arms, legs, ears, etc are the same size . This is harder then it sounds and one of my personal nemesis....I often have one piece a bit larger then the other but I try and get as close as I can .

Pricing like everything in a free market can vary greatly . I have bought bulk wool and Mill Ends for less then a dollar an ounce and paid as much as $7 for a hand blended batt with silk and alpaca . I generally try and shoot for around $1-2 for undyed roving , coarser blends should be a bit cheaper but are often as much as merino on Etsy . Commercial dyed roving runs around $2-3 and hand dyed $4-5 plus shipping which can get steep at some shops . There is usually a small increase if silk or plant fibers are blended in . It would be nice to say that the more you pay the better then quality but that just isn't the case .The most important things to look for is return policy if fiber is sub-par and buying small quantities until you get to know your seller .

Part 3 we finally begin the felting .

Well, that's about all I can think of right now, any questions please feel free to ask .

Tutorial on needle felting Part 1.......Needles and Mat

2011-07-17T13:59:00.000-05:00

tutorial on making simple needle felt dog<---(not by me)

Above is a link on making a needle felt miniature dog . I didn't write it but it has some good basic information and shows how to use pipe cleaners, which I seldom do . If your interested in making a larger, more intricately detailed sculpture , we can start at the beginning...materials and tools .

Tools: Needles, finger protectors, pads

Needles> I began felting using size 40 triangle needles only . I then discovered that 38 star gave almost as nice of detail and was much faster . I now use 38 triangle to begin "prefelting and shaping" , 38 star for smaller more delicate areas like paws and face and 40 for doing fine detailing . I would recommend these as a good beginning set and more then one just in case you accidentally break one ....(very frustrating to have to wait for new ones in the mail mid felting)

=There are several different suppliers but I usually plan on paying around $1 per needle or half that if buying in bulk . I buy most of my supplies on Etsy .

=You can buy different holders for the needles or make your own holder out of femo . I made my own handles out of craft supplies I had around the house . If you can find a thick two sided tape....the kind using for tacking carpeting down works great....place it on leather, suede or craft felt and roll several layers around the needle . then cover the needle top(L shaped head where you hold it, with another strip and to cover the metal end and tuck in and continue rolling outer leather around to holed in place . You can wrap the needle as thick as you want but I find that about an inch or less in diameter gives me a comfortable hold on the needle . I felt by holding my pointer finger on the L shape end and thumb and middle finger on either side but do what ever you feel gives you the best control of where the needle tip is going into the fiber .

Matting>I've tried several different types of matting base . I like to work on my lap instead of a table so I need a very thick foam . Some people cover the foam with a thin fabric to prevent cross contamination for fiber colors and to avoid the surface from breaking down as quickly . This does work OK but it should be a thin jersey...like an old T-shirt...so you have a bit less wear on your needles and you have to be careful that you don't poke into a thick fabric wrinkle which can break your needle . I generally work without the fabric but that is just a personal preference .

+denser the foam the better it will hold up to needle poking
+when felting a something flat, like an ear, keep picking item up and flipping it over to avoid felting it to your mat .
+a large enough felting surface will allow you to wrest your arm and wrist to avoid joint strain

Buying foam matting ....you can buy on-line but check local sources, like sewing supply stores, AXman, or thrift store < for a thick foam pillow form . I felt alot, so I prefer buying children or crib foam mattress and cutting up squares to use .

FIBER....one of the most confusing things there is to learn about felting is what fiber to buy and what to pay for it . I began by buying all my fiber on Etsy with no idea on what I should be paying . I would often buy hand dyed merino at around $5 an Ounce including shipping and sculpt a 12 ounce sculpture from it . That gets expensive and is a waste of beautiful fiber . I've since learned the economy of using a fiber filler . I think the best filler is a nice, clean quilting batt of fiber around 26-30 < refers to the diameter of the fiber hair ,( more on that later) . Fiber is a huge topic so I will cover that later and try and break it into digestible bits . To start though, please check out my right corner links under (learning and cute) and click sheep fiber . It's a good reference in learning a few sheep names .

Begining series of tutorials on needle felting (Introducation)

2011-07-16T13:55:00.000-05:00

http://kgosselinart.blogspot.com/p/tutorials.html

Above is a link to an artist I found just a few minutes ago . Their art is amazing and their tutorial puts the one I am going to attempt to shame . It's not about needle felting but working with sculpy type clays but their is a point to sharing it beyond just going to check out an amazing sculpture and that is that sculpting is sculpting, no matter what the medium you use . I think spending time looking at clay sculpting books and how artists use armatures, study underlying physiology and build up layers can be very useful in needle felting .

My first experience in sculpting was with clay and I loved everything about it except how it felt to touch...yuck . I also much prefer the tactile sensation and look of animal fiber because I love animals , especially fuzzy ones . There are some major differences in working with fiber verses clay and that is due to shrinkage of the material as you felt it . In my opinion that is one of the hardest things to figure out and I am still a long way from perfecting it .

That said, I am going to attempt to share what I have learned in the past 2 and a half year of playing with fiber . I'm hoping that you can over look the horrid picture quality of my step by step...(I only felt at night and have a cheap camera ) .

I'm not sure how many steps there will be but I will start with tools and materials and then have a step by step for the following feltie......

As with most if my animals, he is more "cartoon" then realistic . I seem to be attracted to over emphasizing features , perhaps a life long love of anima and stuffed animals ?

If anyone has an questions about something I may not have explained well , please feel free to ask . I really would love to see more people making their own furry friends . It's an amazing feeling when that lump of fiber starts coming to life under your needle .

Needle felt Max the cat and his new sleep buddy

2011-07-12T23:51:00.000-05:00

I think this is my idea of heaven...sleeping on a "bed of floof" with a tail of fluff as a cover .

It's even more obvious from the side by side shot that I need to add a lot more floof to the felted cats haunches and perhaps change the leg positioning a bit if I can .

Sweet dreams to all and may this stand as a lesson to the world about the blessings of symbiotic relationships .

Needle felt life size cat...MAX

2011-07-11T23:17:00.001-05:00

As you can see above....making realistic animals is not my forte' . I think the fact that my white cat Max is so perfect, makes trying to create a facsimile, a project in futility way above my skill level . However, I am so in love with the way he often sleeps on his back with his arms and legs sticking up that I had to try to create this reminder .

It's been a 4 day, none stop felt-a-thon using wool base covered in white mohair and then "furred" with some corn fiber . I would like to eventually add more corn fiber fur but I ran out so will have to wait until I can afford some more .

As you can see, I made the face, ears and limbs a bit to large but I think he is Ok for a first attempt at a life size cat and I did learn a little more about what not to do next time . I'm not sure what my block is but there is something about cats faces that really challenges my brain .

I really recommend giving corn fiber a shot in your needle felting . Nothing else I've used is as soft or pure white and as long as you felt it into a firm wool core, it felts nicely and adds some wonderful high light and texture .

Happy felting !

Needle felt animals with claws and feathers & "very basic tutorial for making claws)

2011-07-05T17:43:00.000-05:00

Even as a kid, I was not a big fan of animals in clothes . Hell, I wasn't that big a fan of wearing them myself . Yet, most collectable animals appear to be dressed up with all kinds of accessories . Also, after spending hours creating some definition to the animal shapes, I can't see covering it all up with clothing .

I assume that most collectors want to see animals detailed in some way, so I decided my compromise would be to try and add "natural" embellishments....claws, horns, teeth, and wings .

Above are some of the clay, wire and sculpting tools .

Above here is some of the foil film and double sided tape that I plan on using around the edges of the dragon wings to help clean up the edges and make it more secure . I noticed this week that the edges of the dragon wings were starting to separate from the wire in a few places . I plan on remedying that by covering all edges with the tape and then covering that with the foil paper .

Not a very good picture but these are a few of the claws that I made . bottom are translucent Keto clay and the top are a white with mica Kato . They are a very simple to make even for a novice polymer clay user . Basically just make a crescent moon shaped tube and cut it in half=2 claws . I made some sharp and pointy like cats claws and others are more rounded at the tips . I then stuck wire into the base of the claws and used a cheap foil pan to stick the wire into to dry . Warning....the clay will not stay well attached to the wire and will need to be glued into the clay after it is cured .

I tried several different wire bases to attach them to my animals . I tried heavy gauge copper and craft wires but had the problem of the wire bending when I tried to insert them into the felted wool . Using wire cutters to clip sharp angles into the ends into a very sharp point helped abit but still very fussy to get them into the hard wool . I next tried some vintage hair pins which was a bit stiffer metal but still hard to push in all the way . Solution ?

The obvious solution is to use sewing pins instead of wire . They already have a sharp enough point to stick into the wool and don't bend as easily . So, after curing the claws in oven , I removed the pin and added a drop of super glue to the base of the claw....(there is a nice indentation left from sticking the pin head into the claw base that is a great reservoir for the glue) . Then stick the whole thing into the base of the paw slightly above the paw pad .

Unfortunately , my Bf's son still has my "good" camera, so I am stuck with some pretty bad pictures of this weeks animals but here goes .....

Click on the picture for more detail .

Hard to see here, but I also tried making clay hands and feet for this guy but still not very good at working this small so I will skip a tutorial until I figure out how to do it better .

This is my first attempt at feathered wings . I used some feathers I got years ago from a co-worker who hunted his own turkey for Thanksgiving . I wont get into the ethics of hunting but I saw no reason to let the feathers go to waste so when he gave me turkey body, I plucked and washed the feathers...a first for me....and probably a last. I do love the "hairy" look of the under-feathers that I used here . This was a fairly straightforward process . I needle felted two wing shapes and sewed the feathers on over lapping them to hide the quill bases . I left about an inch of the needle felted base which I covered in a bit more fiber and needle felted into the body . Yeah, very time consuming but I do like the result so will probably do a few more of these .

So, that was my past two weeks , small to large/simple to complex but all good fun .

Happy felting !

Wings for fantasy animals.experiment tutorial...part 1

2011-07-02T22:09:00.000-05:00

Nancy Drew by John Baldessari in a book titled Chance. The book was edited by Margaret Iversen and is one of a series of books called Documents of Contemporary Art.

The passage reads as follows:

(It would) be unbearable if our intentions were regularly frustrated. Yet there is something terribly arid, not to say mechanistic, in the idea of a world where all our purposes result in predictable consequences, where we are completely transparent to ourselves and where intentions always result in expected actions. We value the degree of interference in human intentional activity offered by the unconscious, by language, by the apparatus of the camera or computer, by the instruction performed 'blind.' In short, we desire to see what will happen.

I can't recall the blog I found this on, but I think the quote explains part of how I create and why I create . I do not climb the mountain because it "is there", but because I am curious what is on the top and the challenge of trying to find new paths to get there . There is a greater chance of falling into a crevasse but perhaps a better chance of stumbling on a Yeti . (in my naive imaginary world were Yeti's are cute, cuddly and would rather share a granola bar then eat me).

So, I set off on trying to find a way to make wings for my "dragon-fly" . I decided not to use fantasy film because I was worried that it might tear in shipment , leather is heavy and nylon became easily misshapen when I added decoupage . The first thing I found, was expensive but I was unaware at the time that there was a cheaper alternative. It is a plastic film that you can buy by the foot to add texture on glass .

http://www.decorativefilm.com/index.asp

I chose the simplest (least expensive) clear kind but they really have some gorgeous stuff there if I had the money to spend you could skip most of the tutorial and just use the film as is without bothering with the fabric .

(The above shows the awful glare of a night camera shot but also a bit of the cool texture on this film)

The second error I made.....(no Yeti's yet)....was the idea that I could attach the wings by making my own hook and closures....(like the kind that are used on some pants/skirts . ) This was a complicated, messy process resulting in .......

The above . The way I visualized this was that the sodered hook would slide into a corresponding loop that I sewed onto the dragons body . Nope....end result was less then stable . (try, try again . )

What I ended up doing was cutting off the the bent wire ends and wrapping them together in wire and wrapping the wire in black electrical tape...... which you could also just soldier . The end result was two sets of connected wings . Because I had already felted into the body, a very stiff spine of wet felt material, it was an easy jump to just putting a small slit where I could slide the wing frame . This makes it very easy to remove and ship the wings and for the new owner to set up .

Following are the materials I used....

Iron
soldering iron
solder with built in flux
thick wire for wing frame
thin wire to wrap wire before sodering
wire cutter
fabric
scissors
plastic that can be ironed onto fabric
wax paper
bottle of water with an old sock for a bottle cover......(actually that has nothing to do with this project but it's important to stay hydrated and I find that filling a Gatorade bottle half full with water and freezing them makes the perfect ice cold beverage for hours ...save the cap for taking it with you and never buy bottled water again...and the old sock makes the perfect bottle cover.... )

First step is cutting out the fabric and plastic several inches larger then your intend wing using the wire frame as a template . Center wire frame onto plastic . If your using the plastic window film that I mentioned above, it has it's own adhesive built into it that is strong enough to hold the wire into place . However, I think there is a cheaper method that you might want to try . There is an iron on plastic made to water proof fabric . I don't believe it has the adhesive on it but you could wrap the wire in two sided tape and stick it down . Some people may want to try hot glue or super glue but you definitely need to consider that the wire doesn't tend to lay perfectly flat and you need to make sure that all the edges are touching .

The next step, I was working totally blind . My intention was to have the plastic melt into the wire without melting it through . I attempted this by holding the hot soldering iron on the wire to heat it into the plastic . Problem is that because the adhesive was sticking to the wire, I couldn't really tell if the plastic was melting onto the wire as I wanted .

I decided it was a good time to add the fabric and trim it to size . This worked easily with the adhesive already on the plastic . I liked the texture of the window film I used but found a much cheaper way to do this in the future.....
http://www.burdastyle.com/techniques/turn-fabrics-into-oilcloths

The above seems to suggest that you can use the less vinyl tacky "contact paper" used for shelving and book covers and sold at many stores . It's certainly worth trying but I'm still not sure how well the adhesive last over time and think the iron on is supposed to be both lighter and more secure .

So...now you have a piece of vinyl attached to fabric with a wire between . The question is how secure is that wire after you trim the edges . That is where "part two" comes in . The above video claims that this stuff can be sewn which you can certainly do but I'm going to offer an alternative in my next blog along with some of my other new experiments....clay claws and feather wings .

Happy felting !

Week in Review and dragon wings phase 2

2011-06-18T19:37:00.000-05:00

So, these wings are my second attempt at the dragon wings and I am much happier with the result . Firstly, I am in love with the fabric which I did not make myself but take full credit for having good taste to buy . I've been saving it for something special and I think this qualifies . Sorry for the poor pictures...another cloudy day in MN but if you click on the picture you can get a better idea of the detail .

The silk chiffon fabric that I use on phase one wings sagged under the weight of the glitter modge podge but I use a different method to make these cotton wings which I will show in my next blog post . The reverse side, murky as the shot is, shows how I eventually solved the problem of having removable wings . I will also show how I did this next post as it was one of my biggest challenges . These can easily be removed for shipping and even easier replaced by the buyer .

Another goal for this week was over coming my fear..(though not my annoyance), with using wires in my felting . One reason I needed to do this was to add claws to my animals . I thought these proto-type "paws with claws" would make interesting necklaces with a stone glued to their centers . But mostly, I just wanted to practice wiring the toes with enough wire hanging out that I could add Femo claws to my smaller animals . I didn't happen to have any Femo....(in the mail) so I used several layers of white enamel with mixed results .
There is even a human mummy hand in the mix : )
I wrapped several layers of silicon tape....(traditionally used to wrap pipe threads to prevent leaking when joining to pipes together . ) ...around the wire hand and then painted it in flesh tones, then wrapped some more around the hand to imitate mummy bandages . The largest paw does not have wires but is another cat toy with needle felted silk as claws . Silk needle felted better then I would have though, had I not tried it .

Moving on from the toes, I wired toes and legs on the above guy so I could make bent legs . The claws are wire wrapped and needle felted in silk but I hope to do the next nails with the femo . The base of most of the animal is wool which I covered with some yummy alpaca in reddish brown and the white "fur" is my current favorite...corn silk . It's just so soft and shinny and doesn't matt up like the merino .

One last project was just a make-over from a few year ago....

The center swirl is merino but the top and bottoms are pure silk needle felted into the wool base fabric . Can't really see the shine in this low lighting but it's supper soft and shinny . Not sure what I will do with it but it was interesting to felt with the silk fibers and I'm happy with the results . So that's was my week and I feel like I learned a lot and am pretty happy with my experiments . Wing tutorial to follow and hopefully one about felting with wires if I get any better at it .

Happy felting

Dragon wing experiments .....phase one

2011-06-13T10:01:00.000-05:00

These dragons are definitely out of my comfort zone . I had no idea how to make the wings and spent a day just looking at google pictures of different kinds of wings . It seems that most dragons are given ether bat like wings or pterodactyl wings .

For the smaller dragon , (which I started with needle felt wings), I decided to try leather bat like wings . I thought the larger dragons narrow wet felt body and needle felted scaled tummy looked very insectoid so I thought I would do more of a dragonfly wing .

Above and below are the small dragon wings using some of the scrap leather I collect . I didn't do a rather sloppy job of cutting the leather strips that are covering the top edge and two projecting "spines" because I planned on covering that side with some fabric which ended up being a mistake as the fabric I chose was to thin . I kept the wire in place using some very strong double sided tape I picked up at Axman<---love that place for craft supplies . I left a bit of wire projecting out the edge of the wing and wrapped it with another AXman purchase called...."thread tape" . It's very thin, not sticky and bright white so I thought it would make a good claw . (If you've never heard of it, it's the stuff you wrap around pipe threads when you connect them to prevent leaks . )

The above (before trimming ), is the dyed chiffon that I adhered with and coated with "glimmer modge podge" to the wired side of the wing .

Above and below are the dragon fly wings . I began by cutting out a form to wrap the wire around so I could make sure and have the same basic shape and size....that is something that I don't do well just by "eying" it . On a side note....the material I used to make my form also works great for needle felting and you can get a huge piece for around $15 at your local home building store . It works much better then the cheap packing foam and is cheaper and less messy then pillow foam mats . Downside is that it's noisier .

My basic process needs a lot of work and a trip to the craft store . I want something that I can attach to the wire frame that is transparent AND that I can draw/paint the wing veins but it must be durable and shippable . The durable part is really important as is finding the best method to attach the wings to the dragon so they can easily be removed for shipping . Problems like this are what I thrive on so I have some fun to look forward to .

I also decide that I have to overcome my trepidation of using wire in my animals . I'm starting by using wire to make feet but more of that later .

Happy felting .

Dragon finally finished

2011-06-11T07:04:00.001-05:00

The second dragon is finally finished...maybe . I did experiment with some new wings last night that I might try as I'm not totally satisfied with the needle felt wings .They do "go" with the over all cartoon look and they are super soft merino and silk but they aren't very dragony . The feet are wired so I could curl the toes . I hate needle felting with wires....took 6 hours because I had to work slow enough not to break my needles on the wire .

The body is covered in a layer of alpaca and silk in purple, green and blue but I can't seem to take a picture capturing the shine . Not much to blog when each animal is taking me a week to finish .

Happy felting .

polar bears, corn fiber and WIP dragons

2011-06-06T19:20:00.000-05:00

Please click on the pictures for more detail because I spent a lot of time on detail for this mom and teen polar bear set . Most of last week was building the base of wool and needle felting the claws and paws .

The feeling I hoped to create was of the innocent bear cub getting ready to walk off to explore and mom's protective arm holding him back as well as the raised arm issuing a warning to anyone considering messing with her cub .

I'm not a natural sculptor so getting proportions and body positioning right is hard work for me but I really wanted to try a more cerebral challenge . I'm hoping to get up the courage to enter this into our local state fair but deadline is approaching and I'm not sure if I will over come my trepidation in time....or that this will fit into one of their crafting categories .

Above are a few more detailed shots but even with the photo lights I used, it is hard to see the texture of these bears and I have a little secret to share about that........corn fiber .

Yep, unknown to me, the stuff not only felts well into the wool base but is softer, shinier and less "matting" then the traditional merino I have used in the past . I tried a blend of alpaca and mohair first and didn't like the end result which was to "hairy" , so I gave the Ingeo=corn fiber, a shot and it worked a "treat",( as the Brits say ) . I'm now so enamored that I ordered another 8 Ozs to play with and hope to get it this week . I loved how pure white this fiber was and was pleasantly surprised that it not only felted into the core fiber to make nice hair but you can also use it to felt alone, though it does take longer to felt then wool, I think it worked great for nails, teeth and horns .

Above is my only other finished felted friend from last week . I don't know "what" he is but I think he's cute and less scary then most of my animals .

Following are dragon "bits" from my current week long project ...hopefully I will have to time to finish and post more details about my process before Wednesday when I return to my paying job .

This begins with the dragon head using corn fiber for the teeth and horns . Then I decided I wanted to try and use some of my wet felted material for the body but made it to large for the head so these will be two different dragons .

side note...(One of the reasons that I began learning nuno and wet felting was to make my own "fabric" to sew animals , use for making their clothing and as mats for them to sit on . However, I found the whole wet felting so fun I got a little carried away and it became it's own obsession . Now, I am trying to get back to why I'm wet felting and the dragon was my first in that goal . )

I didn't take pictures of each step but will try and blog about the details of the dragons once they are finished .

In the mean time....happy felting to all .

Lots of needle felt animals with boring technical talk

2011-05-24T23:58:00.000-05:00

This weeks project was detailing, firming up and altering some of my previous animals . I also took some more detailed and up close pictures of my previous animals . I did notice that just changing the angle of the photograph made a difference in the over all effect .

Above is the "Welcome to Canada Beaver" . I had originally wanted to make him a lumber jack....which is why I added the mustache and planned on sewing a red/black check jacket for him . Doubting that will ever happen but perhaps I will make him a "welcome to Canada" sign to hold.

I spent about three hours firming the limbs, adding ears and paw pads . Although the picture doesn't really show much of a difference, he is much sturdier, proportioned.

The above was another subtle make-over doing a bit more shaping of the limbs and I covered the original "pinkish brown" with a bit more natural looking brown . Unfortunately, the flash combined with the green wet felt mat still make this redder then it is in person .

On of my biggest challenges

in learning to needle felt is how to create a fur look but still have the fiber firmly attached . I think using fiber with low lights and high lights...like natural hair...helps with that but it still doesn't have the "fuzzy" look of fake fur animals . On the other side, it does allow for more sculptural muscular look of short haired animals .

I have done a few animals using a technique of needle/rooting in small sections if loose fiber but that has the problem of eventually matting/felting up....especially when using merino but I have had a little better result using alpaca or mohair that tend not to felt as easily .

Firmly felting the fiber to the hard wool sculpture does result in some poke holes but I have learned to use take fiber down with a 38 needle and firm with a 40...time consuming on my large sculptures but leaves a nicer surface .

I spent the most time...most of three nights, re-doing the above . He began as a :pop-eyed dog that I never liked and he had a head to toes make-over .Although he retains the basic dog body, I covered all with new roving and reshaped, reworked the head to get rid of the pop-eyes and added the teeth ,tusks and bits of rooted baby alpaca on the tail and around the face . He still may not be "cute" but at least he's interesting .

The following are just a few better, in door pictures of my photos from the previous week . Although most people suggest shooting with natural light, it seems to wash out the details of my animals . Though not perfect, I like the in door pics better .

I couldn't recall if I had shown this last guy before...but I really like his long arms and am becoming a convert to using mohair . It isn't as soft as the merino but I love the natural variation in color and shine of the fiber .

So that's it for my week . Next week will probably be a few more make overs and perhaps a few more fantasy creatures . Happy felting !

New needle felting lessons on Wool Gatherings blog and some of my own mistakes

2011-05-22T14:42:00.001-05:00

This is how I am feeling today.....angry and fed up with endless days of rain . It's 2pm but looks like night outside . Although I love the sound of rain and am not a fan of bright sun, this weather is getting in the way of my plans of taking pictures of my animals to list on Etsy . It's been a full week of cloudy skies and no rumor of sun until Tuesday....

On the bright side...the world did not end yesterday, as internet rumors were suggesting , although the skies over New Hope looked like it was thinking about it .

The real purpose of this post however, is to show some of my first attempts to needle felt somewhat "realistic" animals that I plan on redoing . Each has some fiber colors I don't like, bad faces or misaligned body parts . If you have ever seen my first needle felting, you can see that I tended to make really wild looking fantasy creatures . At the time, I just wanted to play with all the different colors and textures of the fibers and thought there were already enough "realistic animal" felters and I wanted to try something different .

Although they might share some basic features with real animals....they were just twisted enough to be interesting to my eyes .

The above dog???? was one of my first attempts to actually make something based on a real animal and I did not like the result . It took over 20 hours and looked "pop-eyed" and front legs never stood well...(no wires) . The front legs were to short after felting and this is when I first realized that allowing for shrinkage while felting was a pretty big deal and it takes a lot of practice .

Although I liked this pup better, I was still having problems figuring out how firm to felt my animals . I made the core very solid but then added very loosely tacked on roving on top . I wanted to simulate both the look and feel of real fur but what I found was....loose merino tends to mat up over time and with handling . Also, some of the wool that looked brown in my dark apt. looked pink in sunlight . ...another "do-over" .

As to the last "dog".....eck! I'm not sure when I made him but it was back when I was still "poorly" needle felting eyes and a poor choice of fiber left his snout totally distorted . Another "do-over" .
But here is the really good part . I put all these animals in the closet and waited until I felt ready to try again . Perhaps they will never be my best work but, the past 2 years I have much more experience in what fibers and needles to use and how to pre-shape body parts before I add them to the body . I believe that I can at least make them better so......Don't ever through out your first projects, stash them until you are ready to see them with more experience and fresh eyes .

I just found another blogger who shares this basic philosophy and who is willing to share some of her own lessons learned . SO, if your interested in learning....(I know I am not very good at explaining what I do when I am needle felting as It is more tactile then cerebral)..... please check out her blog ....I will also have her listed in my "lessons" section top right of blog .

woolgatherings

Perhaps she can give me some tips to make this dog a bit less.....hidious and how to make my animals not look like they are going to commit homicide or suicide < Wish me luck and happy felting .

Animals with attitudes...from Emo to psychopath

2011-05-18T19:54:00.001-05:00

After days of rain and clouds, I finally got to take a picture of my first 4 animals since Shepherds Harvest . Several people commented that my animals looked a bit "Peeved" if not down right hostile . So this week I tried to focus on making them look a bit less like serial killers .

The little guy furthest right looks a bit "agitated" but second from the left appears to be smirking to himself after playing a nasty practical joke...(.evidently on the bunny who looks like she might start crying any second) . I think the first guy on the left looks like the epitome of self-righteous indignation but perhaps I am projecting a bit much ? "They" say that people with Aspergers can not see non-verbal communication but I know what I see when I look at my animals faces, I just don't know how to make them look happy....Effexor perhaps ?

It looks like I can continue to try to make animals that look like friendly Walt Disney critters or learn to market these as......." Animals with attitude from Emo to psychopath "

Shepherds Harvest 2011 Amazing fiber animals "movie"

2011-05-10T16:55:00.002-05:00

Firstly, I just want to thank all the visitors to my booth this year . You folks were amazing and I appreciate every encouraging word . Since this is the only feedback I get about the things I make, it is really nice for me to hear that some people actually enjoy my sculpted critters ...(.even though some of them do look like a disgruntled postal worker that you worry might pull out an automatic weapon if you look at the the wrong way .....I'm working on trying to make animals that don't look like they might bite.) .

Anyway, I just wanted to dedicate this to the animals that share the fiber I use to make my animals.......sheep, alpaca and goats . Thanks guys !

Shepherds Harvest 2011...yes, no, yes , no, maybe, Yes!

2011-05-05T12:11:00.000-05:00

Above are just a few of the things I will be bringing to sell at Shepherds Harvest this year . After last years show, in spite of meeting many supportive and interesting people.....I decided that driving alone to the show was just to stressful and I was not going to be able to do it again .

Then, a wonderful person who does not mind my aspie "quirks" offered to share a booth with me and I thought....maybe I could do it . Unfortunately, she encountered personal issues that made the show impossible, then possible, then impossible, so until yesterday, I was unsure if I was going or not . Looks like things have been worked out and we will be sharing a booth so...come look for Knot All That in building D.......(and she really IS "all that", knots and all ). You can find the spining wheels she sells on her Etsy shop....knotallthat .

On another note , a glitch on blogger.....(another one), seems that if you batch post pictures from your picasso album, you can't write below each one, so let me explain here about the first photo . I attended a charity craft fair last weekend and meet some really cool handmadeMN team members . Sales weren't great for me, but I really had fun giving away a new toy for kids and cats...(no cats attended but if the kids decide to share, I'm sure there cats at home will be wanting these as well ). I made them by securely felting some re-purposed silk strips inside wool roving and felting a very firm ball with a tail . When you throw them straight up in the air, the silk makes little fluttery movements that "I" think looks cool . Kids under 5 and cats agree . I think other aspies will as well .

If your in MN this Mothersday weekend, come see me and mention this blog for your own free flutter toy or 10% off your total purchases . Here's a link to all the fun you can have at Shepherds Harvest......(it's not just for knitters, lots of cool animals, food , music, people and it's free !)

I think the weather is supposed to be over 40 this year....what a treat . I Hope to see you there .

Craft fair and blogger being uncooperative : (

2011-04-29T01:08:00.000-05:00

I keep trying to post a link to the craft fair I will be at next week AND the poster for the show but the blog is not cooperating..... so please view this and following post as one post . (Dang technologies !)

Here is the facebook page if you would like to find out more about the organizations sponsoring this show and what they are raising money for . ......

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=137477752987391

I've been working hard to get some of my items ready and am terrified about participating...mostly due to my social and driving phobias but am determined to follow through as I think it is a good cause and I did make the commitment .

Besides this sale, I will hopefully be selling at Shepherds Harvest Mothers-day Weekend....I enrolled to late to get a booth, so am sharing one with my friend Eileen of "Knot all That"...she is a spinner and will have spinning wheels and supplies as well as a bit of her own handspun yarn...always yummy stuff .

It is painful to have to take a felting break to try and organize my things to attend these events but unless I want to end up buried in my own wool creations....(which doesn't sounds that bad to me), I need to start sharing a bit of it .

Wish me luck and I hope to be back to playing with wool and sharing some tutorials about making "marketing items", like labels and tags, starting the middle of May . Wish me luck and if your in the area, come visit me at the shows .

I will be at this craft fair on Saturday ! Come support2 good orginizations and buy Mothersday gifts .

2011-04-29T00:50:00.001-05:00

Bunnies and friends needle felted to celibrate Spring

2011-04-24T15:13:00.000-05:00

Happy Easter , Passover or spring solstice, which ever is your proclivity .

I most often make critters that could not be identified in nature... cat body with gopher face and bunny feet, etc . This time I actually tried my best to make a couple bunnies ....perhaps you can find 2 in this picture . Granted, they are still no totally anatomically correct and more cartoonish then natural but I think they are more bunny-ish then not .

The other two animals..(each sitting next to their bunny friends)... are just my traditional "critters", fitting no specific classification but doing there best to look lovable . All animals are a mix of merino, alpaca with just a touch of white angora cat hair on both bunny tummies .

Above and below is my latest table topper with yellow and blue silk fibers, blue mohair curls and black, teal and red merino . I actually made an attempt at creating a "pattern" which is pretty rare for me but I do like the result . No size reference in the picture but they are about 4' by 3'(just guessing).

Above close-up and I'm Loving the mohair and plan on using much more of that in the near future .

I took two sets of photos to see the different lighting in mid-afternoon light and shade to see which was more "true' color . Any suggestions on which you prefer?

This is the reverse side with out silk or mohair embellishments .

Above and below are pictures of my "failed" attempt to felt in some nylon meshing which seemed like a cool idea but resulted in poor felting and all the fibers being hidden by the tan and blue netting , so it had to be removed . At least not a complete loss as the nylon pulled off with some effort and I finished felting for a table runner or bag to sew up later .

I saved the netting and will be using it for something not involving felting .

Below is the sans-netting result with lots of silk and thick layers of merino which should be a good cushioning for a computer bag.

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend with family, friends or wool . We are headed to The Old Country Buffet to enjoy an Easter dinner .

The Official Simon's Cat Website

2011-04-23T14:57:00.000-05:00

The Official Simon's Cat Website: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Earth day video (to cloudy for pictures of new felt)

2011-04-22T14:47:00.000-05:00

I had hoped to share some new felt animals but the sun did not show today to take pictures and so hope you find the above video as inspiring as I do . Hopefully , sun will be back tomorrow so I can get some descent pictures of my new bunny felts in time to celebrate Easter .

Hot pink nuno felt for spring

2011-04-18T09:48:00.001-05:00

Click on the pictures for better detail . I don't know if you can tell but this is actually doubled and I laid wool in-between and on top of silk edge so the draped part is actually two layers and no hemming .

This is the back side of the same shawl .

Two smaller light weight scarves with layers of silk, wool, silk and colour !

Above and below is another doubled chiffon wrap....I cut fringe along the edges after it was half felted .

Above is sans chiffon but light layers of silk and wool fibers and below is another hand dyed chiffon with wool and silk edging . The white is bits of silk fiber "smoke" .

Below is a mistake but I think it's redeemable . I was actually trying to make a computer bag and used some netting on top of the wool,( instead of silk), but only the edges, ( where it was sandwiched between the wool), actually felted ..... which turned out to be a good thing as it just covered all the silk, wool and mohair fibers . Fortunately, it wasn't to hard to remove it and keep felting . I'm not thrilled with the color or lack of design but the silk and mohair turned out OK so I will probably still sew it into a bag .

Below is a lay out using some of the silk chiffon I dyed this week . You can see how much they shrink in the following picture .

I also made a larger , double layer cape using a top layer of the turquoise chiffon and bottom layer of the red chiffon . You can sort of see a W in a peach color that is actually sandwiched between the two chiffons and give it sort of a butterfly look when worn over the shoulders .

Below is a picture of another project (and one step closer to actually trying to sell some of my things....I bought to stamps from Vista print...one black with the shop logo and smaller red stamp with my Etsy and blog addresses . I cut the circles out of some of leather and deer hide that I found at my local thrift store .I glued a non-fraying backing to give them more stiffness and coated the leather with pearlized sealer . It's been a lot of mindless busy work but sometimes "mindless" can also be very Zen . I also made some silk labels for my scarves but I'll show that later .

....and as if that wasn't enough......I also bought some stuff to make dog collars....plastic clips, D rings and cotton webbing . I thought it would be a great way to make use of all my scraps of felt and vintage material I have been collecting for years . It's "easy" sewing, so these are kind of fun .

You would think after all that work, I was the one who deserved a nap, but looks like 2 of my 3 favorite guys beat me to the bed again .Happy felting !

Nuno felting with peacock silk

2011-03-27T17:31:00.000-05:00

I really thought I had already blogged my experiments with my new silk but can't seem to find the post, so here is a shorter version . Above and below is some of the fabric I bough recently on Ebay . (I checked Etsy first but didn't find much selection . )

This material came from Asia, so the wait time was longer but the price wasn't bad for the quality of the material . The first is a very sheer material, I think synthetic with some lovely peacock feathers embellished on it . Very glittery and fun to work with . I cut around the felather on the edge and laid my roving over them and was suprised how well the wool felted in . The edges were thick enough to create a smooth wool and the finer bits I placed between the embellishments gave the fabric a nice crinkled look .

Below are the spring silks that I will be working with in the next few weeks before SH .

Some of the material is chiffon but there is also a bit of "china silk" which has a tighter weave, a real challenge for me to felt .

Above is the "china silk" Habatoi ? (spell check doesn't know ) This layout show how I do my edging on cut edges....I fold it back a few inches and lay down a thin bottom layer, then cover that with the edges and lay another thin layer on top .( Sure beats hand sewing rolled hems when it takes you 5 min to thread the needle )

Above is the synthetic fiber with the embellished feathers . (Sorry for the bad pictures but it's been a cloudy winter in MN . ) Below is the "china silk" with peacock feather print .

This is my third piece....the china silk with merino/silk collar .

I have several new projects to share this coming week....making labels for your items, dog collars from vintage sari fabric and wool and a few up-coming selling events<-----scary !

Happy felting !

I love Onion news even when peeling the layers of sarcasim makes me cry

2011-03-23T20:42:00.000-05:00

Just thought I might share a smile until the sun returns so I can take pictures of some new felt and label making tutorials .

A weird new fabric for nuno felting...and stuff

2011-03-01T18:23:00.000-06:00

TMI ALERT.......I apologize in advance for any more then my usual typo's and weirder then usual sentence structure . An interesting thing happened on the way to my brain today . I evidently forgot to take my Effexor yesterday and took them late today and am getting to experience the wonderful side effect of detoxing off "short half life" meds. . I had been warned that it could cause headaches and brain shocks, but I am experiencing something else entirely . It feels as if I just finished off a 12 pack of some kind of alcoholic elixir . Having been sober over 20 years, amazing I still recall what that feels like, but I guess some things we never forget . Anyway, my brain is buzzing and foggy but in a sort of pleasant way . Makes me wonder what kind of brain damage these chemicals maybe actually be doing to my neural pathways but I will try and not dwell on it as it allows me to function enough to work . On a side note...I have often wondered if that is how some anti-anxiety/depressants do work....after all, if ignorance is bliss....a little brain damage may help some of function happier in an often frustratingly absurd world .

...and back to felt we go.....

So, this is the newest experiment using this weird fabric I found thrifting . I have no idea what it is actually made of but it is semi-stiff and metallic but light weight and open pored . I think this is intended for curtains but I thought the metal look would be a cool effect beneath some light chiffon . Well, I like the results even though I usually avoid synthetics because I can't tolerate the texture .

I covered the top of the fabric (seen as light blue and tangerine with white patterning), with merino wool on both sides and then laid some silk caps on as decoration . The bottom part has the same merino but looks like a lighter orange and green because the yellow/metallic fabric blends and alters the dyed roving colors . You really need to double click the picture to see the detail of the texture created . Being someone who loves texture and dimension . I'm really happy with the lightly rippled effect of the felted stiff fabric .

The above side shows the merino only side with the sewn bottom edge of the fabric peaking out . As to what it is, well you know I don't actually make clothing so I'm not sure what to do with it . As is, you could use it as a skirt over leggings or a cape . I;m much better at starting projects then finishing them but I'm sure I'll find something to do with it .

(A better close up of texture .) It does make me curious to see if I can find something similar in a silk that has a more pleasant next to the skin feel but if you wear the merino side next to the skin, it should work OK .

Above photo was the first experiment with this fabric . The layout was only on top edge and layered as follows....thin layer of merino, some hand dyed silk chiffon, merino, weird fabric, merino and a bit of silk caps and loose silk fibers . Below, I lifted the silk chiffon so you could see the weird fabric beneath . Because this was intended as the underneath side....you might need to wear some kind of leggings beneath unless synthetics don't bother you .

It's hard to get a good picture of shiny material but this looks like spun gold to me and has a cool effect beneath the thin chiffon .

Above is a bit of a close up of the edge to see how well the 6 thin layers felted together . I was actually surprised how firmly it all melded together yet stayed light and pliable .

Above and below are two very different sides to the same table topper . I still think it's cool that you can make wet felt "reversible fabric" for 2 different looks from the same piece of "fabric" . It also keeps me from getting bored when I'm laying out my wool fibers . Considering the layout takes me almost as long as the rolling and felting...I like to play with different fibers, textures and colors . If I could only work in white or black wool, I wouldn't be felting . The fun for me is in playing with color and texture .

Lots of silk, mohair and merino....yummy shine . The bottom shows the two sides over lapping . They sort of "go together" if you wanted to lay it on the table like that .

That's it for last month . I did spend the last few days deconstructing some thrift"score" fur and leather clothes/coats, so expect to see that incorporated into some felted experiments....(sewn, not felted in) . I know that other animal lovers are apposed to using these materials but I can't stand the idea that some animal died and then it's going to end up in some garbage pile . I would much prefer to think it will "live on" as a piece of art and anyone who cares to recycle bits of me after I'm dead , your welcome to me . I certainly prefer that to the idea of rotting in grave, taking up land and ....oh, pardon, is my hippy showing ?

Happy spring....(it's 19 degree here but I'm feeling very optimistic ) .

Wet felt play mat Tutorial

2011-02-27T03:34:00.000-06:00

This is the first playscape I have ever done using wet felting . The others have all been 100% needle felted . They were much smaller and took around 15 hours to make . Granted, they have had hills , monsters and volcanoes but I can always add more needle felted dimension after wet felting .

I made this an aerial view with some textural dimension . That's where the fun came in and getting to play with all my different fibers . If you click on the picture you can see more detail . The upper right corner with the fighting Ninjas was created using prefelt that I tied some wooden balls into . (I know there is a name for that but I don't recall it . ) The majority of the base fiber is merino that I dyed in shades of green and brown .

The river is blue merino, bits of mohair and lots of silk . I wanted this to be a spring is coming, (made while we got the last 18 inches of snow fall here) so I added some red and white mohair to represent a field of flowers .

I used some striped green roving to add crop layout to the upper left corner and a large herd of sheep are white wool nubs . I also laid down some blue silk fibers to represent the creeks running off the larger river . The hardest part for me was not over doing it...I always want to throw as much color into my felting as I have at hand but really wanted a more natural look .

Assuming you know basic wet felting.....and if you don't , I have some tutorials on the upper left of my blog under "links" . I first laid out the towels, then bubble wrap...bubble side up . The next layer was cotton cheese cloth spread out as evenly as possible .

The next layer is Shetland with overlapping shingles to make a sturdy base .

The top layer was the merino, silk and mohair . This is how it looked after wetting it all down with the hot water and soap mixture . I don't usually use very much soap but I found that having added more then my usual actually helped keep everything together and ended with a more even felted piece . The last "layer" was bubble wrap with bubble side towards the wool . So......

towels
bubble wrap
cotton cheese cloth
shetland wool
merino and textures(silk caps, fiber or fabric, mohair, wool nubs, yarn)
bubble wrap

Then follow basic wet felting directions .

Have fun !

More experiments in felting fantasy for February

2011-02-24T00:16:00.001-06:00

Above is most of what I have done for this month . A few needle felted pin cushions. a freaky Valentines present for my BF= the hybrid baby doll ......(it's OK, my bf likes weird things ), needle felt animal , a large playscape/table topper, and several nuno felt cape/skirts using some new "cool synthetic" material . I don't usually use those two words in the same sentence but I like how this felts and will blog about it in the next few days .

This is the present . To start, this began as a traditional needle felt animal but I didn't like the body so I decided to Frankenstein him....awwww, that's creepy . After cutting the felted head of the wool body, I yanked the baby dolls head off and wedged the felted head firmly into the neck hole....perfect fit . Not satisfied with this small amount of gore. I cut open the belly and replaced the invisible baby innards with a needle felt mushroom, tiny cave with bunny and larger bunny in Kung Fu pose . I have several ninja's that I bought for my felted playscapes so borrowed one for the tummy diorama . I then spent another 5 hours, using my permanent markers to make a full body suit tattoo . All in all, about 15 hours went into this present . I "think" he likes it but ....he might just be afraid to tell me that he doesn't....he did watch me decapitate a felted animal and a baby doll with a very sharp knife : 0

Back to more traditional felting ..... I began this as a needle felt cuff but it was turning out to thick and bulky so I decided to stick a felted ball into the middle and felt it all into one piece to use as a pin cushion. It's large enough for my 4 needle felting tool and several individual needles for easy access . I added a lot of needle felt detail on this and decided to keep it for myself. After spending a total of 8 hours on it....I didn't think anyone would want to buy an $80 pin cushion .)

The above one is much simpler and small enough to make into a wrist pin-cushion .I used bits of yarn, mohair for the grassy knoll <------not hiding the guy who shot Kennedy, and plain wool for the lady bug . I added some metal flowers, much girlier then my usual tastes but I do try and consider what other people may like once and a while .

I think this would also make a nice decoration for one of my playscapes or work as a pin cushion .

(This is just another side of the neelde felt cushion)

Above is a very dimensional needle felt cuff , a bit out of focus but it's both firm and texturally soft .

The above and below are needle felt silk and merino over a needle felt wool core . I was playing around with using silk fiber, caps and fabric to add some shine and texture . I also really like the mohair curls but some people might find them a bit tickly ?

One thing to keep in mind when needle felting silk fibers or fabric into wool is that silk is amazingly strong stuff and can easily break your needle if you hit it at the wrong angle . It works best to lay the fiber on small bits at a time . You can't just throw it on the wool rope and start poking but felt in one tiny area until it feels secure then move to the next inch , sort of feeding the silk fibers under the needle like you would feed fabric under a sewing machine foot .

Sometimes after hard felting something, I like to poke some of the fibers out the other side. creates a really velvet feeling surface .

Well, this doesn't really go with the others but I will blog about my new playscape and bear tomorrow . One last necklace using the silk caps and fibers over a wool rope . Click on the picture if your interested in seeing more of the silk texture detail .

wet felted smock "take 2"

2011-02-11T15:49:00.001-06:00

This isn't much of a tutorial because I am still working out a pattern idea .

What I see in my head is a light weight collar and area to cover the ...uhm, chest area, with silk chiffon ruffled fabric hanging from the bottom of the nuno bodice to waist . What I need to work out is. how long does the felted part need to be so that your "naught bits" are covered . Since I intended this to be a spring top, I don't want the felt to be to thick....(which it is here, due to one to many layers of merino/tencel . ) Ideally, the chiffon, silk mesh or cotton mesh would start right beneath the collar area to form a nuno bodice ....so very little fiber would need to be added to make the fabric not transparent . Make sense ? However, I didn't have the chiffon yet, so I decided to make a solid fabric and do a bit of cutting and sewing experiments before I began the nuno felting with "take 3" once the fabric arrives .

You can see the basic pattern here, but I am not a pattern maker, (uhmm, stating the obvious again), so this still needs some major tweaking before I can figure out the measurements of future layouts . Just thought I would share the whole learning process and hope that some day I will actually conclude with something wearable . If not....I can always cut the felt experiments up to make small bags and cuffs which is what this piece is bound for.... No waste in felting .

nuno felting smocks with cotton and silk...or...Did a clown throw-up?

2011-02-08T10:04:00.000-06:00

Ok, I know this is probably a color over load for some people, but I haven't really learned the art of "minimalism" . No Zen here....just clowns ; ) and fiber and more experiments with felting . The above picture is a dense silk fabric with metallic edging and merino and lots of silk felted into it .

There's a story...(there's always a story.) For years I would haunt thrift stores and buy every piece of silk clothing I could find....I loved silk though I seldom wear anything but cotton . So, I had bags of silk clothing that I was planning on sewing into a .....something someday...except I hate to sew....ooops. So, when I learned about nuno felting, I was psyched...... a way to finally use my silk . Except that it is all so tightly woven that I couldn't get wool to migrate through it...(which is why I now only use chiffon or mesh silks .) I know other felters seem able to felt with denser silk but I never could get it to felt securely . After a year and a half of tripping over my silk bags, I have finally found a way to nuno felt with it.....spoiler alert....(.it takes a bit of time and silk abuse).

Above is not an example of that...(I just can't seem to figure out how to rearrange my pictures and loaded them in the wrong order .) What it is is a piece of cotton "mesh" that I cut in half for the above table topper or scarf???? and below "smock" .

The concept is one that's been ratteling in my brain pan for a while and I finally found the right fabric to try it . How ??? easy peasy . I started with a large platter and laid out a ring of merino and silk and tencel around it . I made it platter size rather then plate size, to allow for shrinking . What I forgot to consider was that the shrinking occurs away from the empty center and towards the fiber/ fabric making the hole larger, not smaller . Again, some basic physics principle that I would have known if I had bothered to take physics in High school instead of just staring at cute guys .

End result is a smock that will show a lot of cleavage (or should be worn over another shirt ?) . I still have to sew the sides together and figure out the whole "physics of arm holes"...wish me luck .

This smock I used a plate to felt around....we live, we learn . It was once a very small silk dress/tunic that was slit up the sides and came with matching harem pants . I cut off the top part and needle felted the new cut top edge with a layer of merino . I did this with both sides of the tunic and then laid them near the edge of the plate and added more roving beneath and above the needle felted fabric edge and joined them with connecting roving around the plate .

If you learn like me...visually, then none of that probably made sense and you will have to wait until I can get pictures of the process which I will do if I remember to bring my camera tomorrow .

Below two pictures are just close ups of the cotton mesh fabric . click on picture to see more detail . The cotton mesh worked great and I will definitely be looking for more of this to work with in the near future . I think once I work out the sizing, it will make great summer tops with just a bit of wool accenting on the bodice of silk or cotton mesh base . Eventually, I will try and do this with a resist instead of flat so that I don't have to sew the sides but can just felt them together . Stay tuned .

Needle felting with fake fur and real wool...and new shop SHUNKLIES

2011-02-07T01:22:00.000-06:00

Above and below are a long planned but very "free form" experiment combining hand sewn fake fur and needle felting . This is not a new invention, there are several amazing crafters combining fake fur and needle felting but this was my first attempt and I didn't bother with things like....patterns but just started felting into a tube of fake fur that I had sewn and turned fur out .

My only experience making fake fur bears was in Highschool....where we cut shapes out of the fake fur and sewed them together....what a lot of work ,lol. I do plan on doing that, at some point but I just wanted to see what felting into fake fur felt like....(or felted like ). It works great, though there certianly is a learning curve and my critter here is a bit lopsided as I just sort of made up a design as I went .

Anywhoooo,expect more of these guys....(I bought several yards of fake fur a year ago and am determined to use it. ) I will share tutorials as I get things figured out .

Below is a bit of alpaca , merino and silk that was first wet felted, then needle felted . A lot of work for not very impressive results....live and learn . Upside....it's really soft !

Continuing my bangle addiction...three new merino, alpaca and silk needle felt bangles, I still need to add some glass eyes to the snake bangles...I don't think the needle felt eyes have enough glint in them .

Even though I will never get these on Etsy in time for Valentines sales, I think hearts are always in style.....well, I like them any way and these are very 3D and should make nice pens .

Above and below....more free form needle felting "Dr Suisse Widgets" and beads for jewelry .

and below....a great shop on Etsy for knitters and fiber crafters....she has some beautiful stuff and even shipping from England, has reasonable pricing and fast shipping . Check her out.....

http://www.etsy.com/shop/shunklies

Needle felting, nuno felting, and wet felting my first vessel

2011-01-18T16:46:00.000-06:00

Above and below.....(waiting for my BF to entertain them with some guitar rock solos), are my latest needle felt friends . A mix of merino, mohair and alpaca are fast becoming my favorite ofr making animals . The mohair and alpaca add a nice "hair" look to very tightly felted sculptures . They aren't snuggable and fluffy but they are durable , hold the detailing well and are easy to clean so I guess there is always some trade offs in life .

Below is another of my "I know it's just yarn but they feel and look so cool to me" jewelry obsession . I used a mix of handspun and "fun fur" novelty yarns . All are super soft blends of merino and silk with a dash of synthetic for sparkle . I make them similar to my braided roving bracelets substituting about 20 strands of the yarn for the roving and braiding and needle felting the same way . They are much softer then the roving bracelets, less structured and with even more stretch, so slip on conveniently . Perhaps no one else will dare the fashionestas and wear yarn instead of precious metals and stones, but I love the way these feel against my wrists .

Below are two very similar cobweb/nuno felt scarves . They are both a base of orange merino tencel with different blends of turquoise, green and a bit of red silk bells . As most felters know, it's almost impossible to capture the detail of the texture and shine of the fibers ....at least using a cheap camera and poor lighting...but if you click on the pictures it will show a bit more of the detail .

Below is one of the 2 table toppers I worked on last week . They are both a mix of just about everything . I like the different effects you can get mixing wool. alpaca, mohair and silk .

This is as large a piece as I can make with the limit of my table space . I added several layers os it's far more durable and thicker then the cobwet scarves and I would feel safe throwing it in a warm water wash and 20 min in dryer then air drying for cleaning . The nice thing about felted wool is the one thing you usually worry about....shrinking and felting....have already happened .

This shows close up of the silk bells over the wool....I love working with silk .

Not sure why, but the below table topper reminds me of something from the 50's . I had designed this as the "top" with the bits of different colored mohair on top of the greenish-yellow wool base and brown edging.....sounded kind of springy but I'm not thrilled with the result...not my colors for sure .

I much prefer the "bottom" of peachy-orange colors .That is one advantage to making two different sides....increases the chance that you will like at least one of them . I made this table topper "peanut shaped " and am considering sewing it into a purse....will see .

Below is my first attempt at a vessel . It certainly is more "free form" then some professional felted vessels I've seen and though it stands OK, it's not as hard felted as I wanted . On the up-side, the softness did allow me to add a needle felt "pod" and I may add a few more and then rewet felt the whole thing . All in all, a good learning experience and I will try and take pictures of the process if I attempt another .

....and that is about it as Max says it's time to pay him a bit more attention and stop this incessant felting .

Happy New Year of fiber fun

2011-01-01T16:43:00.000-06:00

Christmas is over for most folks but being the defective perfectionist that I am....I still have packages to mail . Why ? Well, my family would say it is because I am forgetful, inconsiderate or irresponsible but they would only be half right . The reality is that I have been thinking of them and Christmas for the past 12 months and made several items with them in mind . The problem for me is that I have these nagging self doubts that inhibit me from just popping the items into the post and knowing they will like them . Instead, I critically look at each completed item and find fault...colors or textures they wont like or will clash with their decorating . Will these items I have struggled to make end up in a thrift store donation ? These thoughts are complicated by the reality that I don't know my family better . The reason for this is to complicated to go into but makes the Holidays a rather unpleasant time for me . Each item I make carries the unrealistic weight of being my only way of saying...."I think of you and care about you ". .....unfortunately, my lateness in posting gifts actually gives them the opposite impression .

This year, I actually made a movie and sent emails asking my family to please pick something they would like for me to send so I could at leat feel that the item had a willing receiver . The only family member who responded was my mother who said that I didn't need to send anything but a card . In my heart I would like to believe that she is just being her usual selfless self and not wanting to take items away that I might eventually sell and make money from . But some part of me just wishes that she could say...."Hey, I love that animal/scarf,etc and would love to have something around to remind me of you and how proud I am of your talent ".

So, to the family of other aspies....I am opening my heart to you to let you know that aspies do have feelings that we are often not able to express or express in ways that seem contrary to your logic .

This is the latest addition to my animals and though not intentional, reminds me of a lion cub . Behind him is a scarf I designed for my mother in law.....I have made her several that I deemed "not good enough" and now wonder if even this one has to dark of colors ....dang .

Although, I have no torso to pose , it is actually meant as a shoulder shawl .

It's hard to show here but I felted two separate layers of chiffon here so it has different colors on each side that I hope compliment each other well .

The turquoise is newly dyed last week using a rust mix to give an earth and water look and she lives in Florida so I wanted to make it as light weight as possible using just the chiffon and tencel merino blend .

I absolutely love the texture of the merino and tencel together . I also added just small bits of silk fiber on top to add even more shine to the blend .

Below is how I spent most of last week . I dyes both silk bell/caps(greens) , mohair and wool and tencel and merino and straight merino . This is just a bit of the dying I did...several more pounds in the car yet to be unpacked including some lovely purple merino/tencel .

Below is a close up of the silk bells but I can't really capture the almost florescent effect but wanted to share how I did it . I actually soaked the bell in sunflower yellow dye before I added the blue and bit of magenta spots . I think this would work as well using any lighter base dye with spot dying complimentary darker colors .

Below is a bible bag I made for my sister in law who was recently ordained . This is my first bag using a resist and built in handle . her favorite colors are red and green so I used a base of dark red Shetland for durability and some hand made merino prefelt hearts that laid on top ,(and look more like leaves then hearts but still interesting contrast) . I think this bag turned out much thicker then I had imagined but certainly will be durable . Now, if I can just except it's imperfections and get it in the mail before next Christmas is here .

Below is the decadence that will ring in the New Year . We don't normally eat this unhealthy but it these will be accompanied by a nice big salad to help counterbalance .

Wishing you all a Happy New Year full of experiments, treats and love .

One year of felting condenced into 15 minutes

2010-12-21T00:05:00.000-06:00

Be warned, this is a really long video but a great way for me to preview my year . It took me most of today to put my felting into one file and I used Picasso to create a "movie/slideshow" of the images . Some how, it doubled the pictures and I then had to delete half of them . There are several scarves that have more then one image because I wanted to show the back or side angles , so it looks like I made more then I actually did but still.....I been "mad felting" this year and loved it .

With no further adooo...

Needle felt jewelry, wet felt scarves....felting for the Holidays

2010-12-19T16:43:00.000-06:00

The above is my personal favorite for the week . I made it as thin as I could...(cobweb style?) and used lots of silk caps and a bit of milk protein<------(OK, what happened to the spelling rule ..."i" before "e" except after C or as sounding like Hay as in Neighbor and Weigh ? ).......to add texture and strength . Problem is that I didn't thin out my milk protein enough to let the wool fibers felt into it and had to go back and needle felt it in place . It still shows poke holes where I needle felted but I quick wet felt will heal those over .

Above and below are the experiment using resists to create flaps . After re-examining, I do think this is OK for a scarf as the non flap areas are thin enough to create drape . I will definitely use thinner prefelt in the future though as the flaps are thicker then necessary which doesn't allow them to get that cool ruffled effect .

Above and below are another attempt at making cobweb using thin layers of merino and lots of silk fibers . It's super soft and I like the colors but, again, I worry about how well something like this holds up over time . Does anyone have any experience wearing cobweb scarfs? I originally made this for my mother but it turned out a bit wild for her tastes . Perhaps my mother in law or one of sister in laws would like it ?

Ok. the above and below "scarves" are what I would consider as scarf "fails" ,though not wasted as I can use them for other things . On the lattice scarf, I had hoped to use it as a bit of texture sewn over a silk velvet base....I still plan on doing that with a merino lattice scarf but the wool I used here is just to rough , even over a velvet base , if it touched my neck it would make me scream .

The scarves above and below were my attempts to make "manly" neck wear . I didn't want them to be as delicate as the cobweb but these turned out to thick to make a comfortable scarf . (My bf cringed when he tried one on . )so...these are bound for the table runner or purse pile fabric to sew. The bottom scarf was an attempt to add some baby alpaca curls but I could not get those curly little buggers to felt with out burying them in another layer of wool . Bummer, they sure looked cute and soft laying on top of the wool . I think I will have to stick to needle felting them to the edges of felt .

I wanted to make a few more easy and inexpensive items to my shop and using a cookie cutter does speed up the sculpting but don't be fooled by how easy it looks . Even after you have a "basic" sheep shape, you have to take it out of the mold and do a lot more poking to get it firm, pluss adding the wooly top coat,ear, hoof and tail details . Each sheep took me about 2 hours but was nicely mindless work while watching TV . You do need to be careful not to break your needle by poking into the metal mold .

Below are a few more needle felt jewelry projects from the week . The top two circles were my first wet felt ropes....I actually hate making wet felt ropes (makes my palms itch), but they are part of felting so I'm trying to get over it (and wearing cleaning gloves helps alot). The also do make great headbands . I attached the two ends with some fiber and silk and felted a bit more silk fibers into several sections . (I put them around my neck like a necklace (which you could wear them as), and then pull them up over the front of my head . They have some natural stretch so make them a bit shorter then the circumference of your head so they will stay in place . Obviously, you can decorate them with any kind of flowers, beads, ect . On the bottom of the picture is a bracelet using the same principle except I just doubled it up and felted into crossed area and end sections . The middle piece here is part of a necklace . I plan on adding some ribbon or leather (haven't decided), to both sides that can just be tied in back . It started as a tightly braided handspun yarn, then was needle felted together and more roving needle felted into it to create the pattern . It's a bit "busy" for most folks but the kind of thing I like myself .

Below is one of my projects for the new year....(leave it to me to start making winter items in January .) I plan on making some hats and scarves as well as using it for some part sewn/part needle felted animals . It really feels yummy but I imagine it's going to be a pain to hand sew .

.......and lastly, one of the many projects/goals for the new year, reorganizing my craft room and getting tags on my felt items for sale . I now have enough felted items to open my own brick and mortar, (but have zero desire to do that so I better start figuring out how to sell them .)

Happy felting and happy holidays !

New Obsession ?...peg board weaving is so coool !

2010-12-19T15:18:00.000-06:00

I just had to share this because I don't want to lose it....I am sooo going to try this next week . I think it has a lot of applications for possible wet felting experiments . I've been looking at some new way to make straps for my bags and these look perfect to me (once wet felted) . I have tons of strong fibers for the "warp" and I think some of my less expensive ie coarser, but stronger roving, would work better for felting after doing this weaving.....I will try and do a tutorial of this next week if it works . Wish me luck .

Layering wool and resists

2010-12-17T19:38:00.001-06:00

Both of these scarves use a resist to separate bits of fiber from other bits of fiber to create layers . The one with the chiffon ruffles was an experiment to see if I could get a layered effect without sewing . I think it worked pretty good though I did have to keep readjusting my resists to keep them in place . The second attempt was after seeing several other bloggers doing "something" to create a layered look but I lost the blog that I first saw this effect.....(if your reading this send me a link so I can add it here if your OK with that ? ) . One thing I forgot to mention in the previous post is that I find it easier to do if you wet down the first layer of fiber(the light blue), before adding the resists and second layer of prefelt . I also lifted the resists between rolling and lightly rewet the fiber below them because the resists are water proof . I think this will be my general rule when doing really thick felting where I add several layers of wool and embellishments, (especially silk ), so that the bottom layers get enough water.

Anyway, I think the first link below was a class that taught how to sew several layers alternating prefelt and resist then tearing away the resist after piece is felted . That sounded awfully fidgety for me so I just put the resist in between the laid out fibers of the base piece and the prefelt I had made previously and kept checking that it stayed in place after I opened it between rollings . The resist moved very little, so no problems if your prefelt is spread out as I did but probably wouldn't work if you wanted them direct on top of each other . (I'm still waiting for some sunshine here to get pictures of my completed fabric ). I thought I was making a "gilled" scarf but ended with something far to thick to make a comfortable scarf so it will probably be cut up and made into a bag .

I think the layered and sewn prefelt/resist is how the scarves were made on the following link but I don't speak Spanish....(I barely speak English) .
http://mjuliarossi.blogspot.com/2010/11/fieltro-fieltro-internacional-workshops.html

Here is another one of my favorite felters take on this.....I'm not sure how she did hers .
http://andrea-graham.blogspot.com/

Click on this link....you will be inspired !!!

http://jane-bo.livejournal.com/?skip=10
Anyone else wanting to add a link of an example let me know .

I also wanted to say that I think the felting community is one of the most open to sharing techniques of just about any group of crafters out in blog land . Almost everything I learned about needle and wet felting, I learned from other felters who were willing to share their own experiments on line . How uncapitalist of us . Aren't we supposed to guard our trade secrets and sell them ? Well, some do keep their cards close to the vest and I have no problem with that either but I still think the amount of sharing is amazing and am happy to be a part of this community where the joy of learning and experimenting are valued above mere commerce .

I do hope to have some of my own recent experiments up tomorrow....if I could just get a bit of sun for photos .

Preview of Lattice and resist scarfs

2010-12-15T22:40:00.000-06:00

Just a few rather blurry night pictures of some new projects . The above is the lay out of some merino in(blue-green) and some prefelt I made with blue on one side and purple on the other .

The "material" that I am using as a resist is some of that anti-static packing material that came with one of my Bfs's guitars . His packing materials don't go to waste around here....(yea ! free bubble wrap .) I don't know what this stuff is called but it did work really well , is easy to cut and stays put pretty well when felting....though you may have to readjust it a bit between rollings .

After laying the prefelt onto the resist, I added a very thin layer of fiber ontop of the area I wanted to felt . I do plan on making some with thinner strips of prefelt and resist but started with these larger flaps to make sure it works .

Below is my first attempt at making a lattice? scarf . I've never been a fan of these for myself but I have plans for this including some really lush green silk velvet that I've been saving for something special .

I've also made my first purse with a resist....(aren't I brave) as well as some other fun projects which I hope to photograph tomorrow , sun be willing .

A riveting online chat with Pulitzer Prize winning (Aspie) author, editor, music critic, producer and professor Tim Page

2010-12-07T12:16:00.002-06:00

A riveting online chat with Pulitzer Prize winning (Aspie) author, editor, music critic, producer and professor Tim Page

Other then annoying my BF by saying....."I think that person is an aspie." I seldom even think about being Asperger . The exception is when my anxiety level gets to such a level that I no longer feel like I am functioning at my optimal level ........or to the level that I begin to think I would be better off dead then feel another moment . I'm some where in between right now and as is my nature, on a quest to try and find relief through information . Thus the current research in aspie related web sites versus my usual obsessive search for felting related information and inspiration . So please consider this post and the last as Public service announcement breaks in your normally scheduled programing .....annoying but required .

I find the title of this following video as a misnomer.....I didn't find it funny but enlightening as to what Aspergers can look like and even more telling ,(as it always is....) are the comments that follow . Many of them make me sad and questioning the future of humanity . If you have ever doubted the de-evolution of humanity , just read comments on youtube . No wonder the ruling class believes they can recreate the good ol' days of serfdom .

If I could felt my brain...... my stuffing wouldn't fall out .

2010-12-06T00:13:00.000-06:00

This isn't about felting but more about feeling . I guess it would fall under "cathartic purging" . Like many people , I am not speaking here to be "heard" as much as I just feel an over whelming need to try and organize my current thoughts . I don't think most people understand what I'm saying anyway . I'm "speaking" to clear the clutter from my brain . SO, unless you are the type of person who doesn't mind the sound and fury of a good purge....you should probably move onto the next blog .

I'm not sure if what is happening to me is directly related to my Aspergers or some other brain wiring anomaly . It's quit possible that it is a mixture of factors but the relevant bit is that I appear to be over whelmed by things that most people find easy or at least "doable" with some effort . I think that is one of the most difficult things for people to understand about other humans with neurology different then their own . Although Aspies are "credited" with lacking theory of mind, it seems to me that neuro-typicals are no more able to figure out how my mind works then I am theirs . The reality is that I can be very intelligent in some areas and still be close to retarded in other areas . Anyone who hasn't experienced this phenomenon first hand would seemingly rather believe that I am being lazy then that one brain can function on two such drastically different levels . Well, welcome to my world . As another aspie once put it...."I am the dumbest smart person you may ever meet ".

So, this past year I have gotten to face my own bits of retarded eye to eye by "trying to learn to market myself ". Although learning felting has been an experience of the best parts of Aspergers...the focus and pure joy of learning, marketing has been a little piece of hell full of self-doubt. indecision , and facing a kind of deception <----------(not the kind where I have to actually lie , which I find physically painful, but the kind that means I have to edit what I say and do .) I'm sure that anyone who sells items knows what I am talking about , at least in the abstract . You are told not to talk about politics or religion or risk alienating possible customers . The exception to this is if you have a large enough demographic to sell to that shares your politics and religion . I find that highly unlikely because anyone who is as "weird" as me, probably doesn't have any more money then I do and I buy everything I need from the thrift-store .The result is that I now worry about alienating potential buyers AND even worse have to try and understand what other people might like to buy . I know that market research is as basic to running a business as boiling eggs is to cooking a meal . This isn't rocket science but it's just as hard for me because I don't think my personal esthetic is even close to the norm .

I spent many years thinking that I would grow up and those tasks others seemed capable of doing would suddenly seem doable for me . For years, I collected a thrift-store wardrobe of grown-up clothes for the day when I would wake up an adult and know how to get a job that I would be able to use my strengths . (The clothes are still there but now I am trying to figure out how to use them in my crafting projects) . I work at a job that makes no use of my BA in psych but allows me to do my crafting passion on over nights .....it's not a choice as much as a compromise . At 47, 4 years after having received my DX of Aspergers, I am no closer to growing up then I was at 20 . I would love to claim, as I think my parents do, that I am just one of those free spirits who chooses to live unconventionally ......(or just lazy). That would be a lie. I live to the best of my abilities and do so by hanging from the ledge by my finger nails ........(precariously) . Having already experienced long bouts of poverty and short bouts of homelessness and institutionalization....my fear of failure is not paranoia but based on a very possible reality .

So, my desire to eventually be able to make a living from what I create is not just an ego booster or to have some extra money to take a vacation . It is a life line that may prove the difference between making it to the shore and my lungs filling with water . Why ???? Hard as it may be to believe....in real life, there are many people who just don't like me . I've never been able to decipher exactly what I do that offends folks but it always catches me off guard when I find out co-workers hate me . I put so much energy into trying to be a good worker and nice to people . I work over nights to try and limit my contact with people because I assume it will give them less reason to hate me but....even that appears to be to much .

So currently, there is someone at my job who has told one worker that "I am weird and she is afraid of me"....told several others, including my manager, that " I am not doing the required cleaning" and recreated a huge drama based on her acquisition that I had not done the laundry for several days . Since I know that I had done all the laundry the night before except for one client....there is no way there could be laundry baskets full unless she had intentionally put clean clothes in the basket to make me look bad . That kind of intentional sabotage really scares me . How do you deal with a psychopath who also happens to be friends with your boss ? So, like the terrorists, she doesn't need to actually blow anything up now.....she has already made me feel like I have to constantly be on guard against attack . I don't function as well under this kind of pressure . It would be simple to say, if your not doing anything wrong then you have nothing to worry about but my life experience has proved that past believe to be unrealistically naive . ....just ask the witches or Jesus if your so inclined .

OK, so besides this current fear of losing my job and the reality that I am even more stuipid then I gave my self credit for.... I also had oral surgery a few days ago where part of my gum had to be cut away from a cavity and the pain as well as the Tylenol is making me even more stuipid . It's also nearing Christmas where I have to deal with some unpleasant realities , such as not feeling like I have a "family" that actually knows I'm alive during a season that focuses on family closeness . Normally, I can ignore this fact but each Christmas I have to battle myself over what to buy a family that I hardly know . Should I just send gift cards or should I send some of my hand made items that they may hate and throw out ? I'm slavishly sentimental towards the items I make and the idea of them being thrown out is very painful to me but so is the idea of giving something as generic as a gift card .

So here's the math....

physical pain
+
psychic/emotional pain of rejection of others
+
fear of poverty
+
fear of failure
+
fear of the unknown/future
=

?????aspie dysfunction or just the normal human condition . I'm not sure it really matters I'm just hoping that I can keep pushing forward and that there isn't a cliff at the end of this path or, that if there is, I will find that aspie super powers include an ability to fly .

Angst be gone....back to felting tomorrow .

So many wet felting experiments, so little time...now what ?

2010-12-02T15:46:00.001-06:00

I hope all these pictures don't over whelm anyone's' computer . Do to the Holiday, I had extra time for crafting and decided to take advantage by trying some new experiments . I often see some really inspiring things on other felters blogs but have no idea of the techniques they use so I am trying to find my own way of achieving texture .

Both the above pieces are made by layering silk bell caps, (dyed turquoise) with layers of very thin merino in salmon/orange and many shades of purple . The first picture is only one layer of merino with silk bells . I want to see how little fiber you can use and still get a durable piece of felt . The end result was about the thickness of store bought craft felt but with the extra strength and structure of the silk bells .

The second picture is a thicker layer of purples, silk bells and bits of orange merino laid over the bells . One thing I learned while doing this is that by grasping the edge of the bottom of the bell and pealing up a bit....then placing my hand inside the "bell" and pulling the top of the cap....I got a nicer result then just trying to peal from the bottom . It does take a bit of patience and lots of hand lotion to keep the silk from clinging to every microscopic skin callus .

This is a side view to see the difference in how thick I laid down the fiber .

Another experiment was to answer the question....can you stack wet felting and do twice as much at once ? Uhmmm, yes, but I'm not sure it is worth the trouble . This is how I did it ......

After laying down the first fibers on flat side of bubble wrap, (with bubbles against the towels ), I wet fiber with the lightly soapy water, laid down a second piece of bubble wrap , bubbles down and rubbed very lightly . I then laid on my second layer of fibers . My intention with the top layer of bubble wrap and fiber was to make a two layer "pre-felt" . I laid down a layer of grey going one direction with tealish green in the other direction and on the second piece, I did purple on one side and blue on top of that . Using two different colors allows me to pick which color I want when I need some pre-felt . I still don't know if I felted this long enough to be called pre-felt but it held together .

I then wet downthe top layer and carefully rolled up the double thick bubble wrap fiber . This is where a very interesting ------(read frustrating), law of physics made it-self know . I understand this law but can't explain it.....(not rocket scientist) . The part you need to know is that the inner/top layer will have extra bubble wrap sticking out and have to be readjusted as you roll to keep it from crinkling up . I just kept tugging the bubble wrap bottom to keep it flat . Sooooo......if you want to try this, just make sure that you don't lay the fiber to the very end of the bubble wrap but leave a good 9 inches bare that will then wrap around the whole thing when you start rolling it .

I rolled several time, opened the roll and readjusted and rolled some more . If you think the bottom layer needs a bit more water or realigning , just roll the top bubble wrap up by itself and set aside, wet bottom fiber and readjust as needed and then lay on the top bubble wrap again . Anyway, anyone actually read this...lol? it sort of works and did relieve my curiosity , which is the important thing for me .

Here is the thicker three layer piece with merino+ silk bells +merino .It's thick enough to be made into a bag but still flexible enough to cut and sew into a hat or use as a scarf .

The top and bottom pictures here are a completely different neck collar or"mini-scarf with silk bells and red on one side and scraps of salmon chiffon well felted into merino on the other side . I don't think the red and salmon really worked together but I guess I like to make things that you can have two different colors on each side to pick which matches whatever your wearing .

Below is the one layer of orange/salmon merino with silk bells on top....It turned out both flexible and durable which I was a bit surprised at....I thought you HAD to use two layers going opposite direction ?

Flexable and drapey ----(spell check says those aren't really words ? )

The wonderful texture and shine of the silk as the wool felts and pulls it together.....I love how organic this looks ie my current obsession using silk bells .When putting the silk fibers on, just make sure that it is not to thick for the fiber to migrate though and felt down . Although the blue silk now looks solid, it started as very fine wisps of silk .

This is both sides of the purple bottom with the silk bells on top side and salmon/orange wisps over silk .(Silk wool sandwich)

This is the back side with mostly puple and just bits of blue silk showing through .

I think these are called "scarffetts " but have no idea how to spell that . I guess some people like that you can just stick them in your coat pocket and don't have to worry about your scarf tails dragging in the slush . This still needs a closure . It is light weight but warm with no holes for the wind to blow through like some knitted scarfs . I think this might be a bit to small though and am thinking of beading it and doubling it to make a cuff ,

A much thicker and larger "scarffette"

This was another "first" for me . Actually several firsts .

For one, I wanted to see what would happen using larger bubble, bubble wrap . What I wanted to do was lay down the fiber and sort of wiggle it around to expose the bubbles and create holes in the finished fabric . I've seen several felters with holes in their felt . I assumed that they were cutting the holes in when the fiber reached pre-felt stage and then continuing to felt and full piece to "heal" the cut edges . I just wanted to see if I could get a similar effect using a different method....(spoiler alert....Mine didn't look anything like theirs) . I did make some holes though, so some success . Some of them I filled with the orange alpaca "seconds" and some I left open . I really like the end effect though but rolling large bubble wrap really is frustrating and awkward . I think it was worth the trouble but be prepared to keep opening your roll and adjusting your fabric so it doesn't clump up unless that is an effect your going for .

The other firsts with this project was using some really lumpy fiber which I bought as "batts" but turned out to be little slugs....(the bits of fiber that you get from coming fiber and is usually used for stuffing . Well, it does felt but it's impossible to really get an even layer for a nice scarf but works in this more abstract table topper .

Above are some of the "pre-felt" that I made for the felt fabric below . I cut out simple geometric shapes and placed them on top of 2 thin layers of merino . At first wetting and rolling I was afraid that they were not felting but adding lots of water and lots of rolling, they began merging and I really like the effect . I think this is my favorite felt for the week as it reminds me little organisms swimming in the sea . Perhaps the beginning of life on earth .

Below is the back side....darker and with no pre-felt but lots of organic shapes from the tye-dyed wool fiber.
I still don't know what i will end up doing with this but it's certainly large enough to sew up several computer bags or just be huge table topper ?

Below is just another bit of merino+silk bells scarf or I may cut it up to make dolls cloths .

This is about 3 thicker layers that I wanted to use to make a sewn hat with some fake fur...sewing?

I'm not sure what to make of this piece . It was dark wool before I dyed it and something close to Shetland, so not soft enough for a scarf...in my opinion . I hated it at first but it's growing on me and I think I might find something interesting to do with it .

Below is my first time working with kid mohair which feels almost as soft as alpaca but has a much tighter crimp . I think it makes the perfect embellishment for this needle felt wrist cuff....(then again, I'm kind of weird ).

Below are my needle felting for the week....nothing but buttons . I had several people ask me for buttons a the Shepherds Harvest festival last spring so I thought I should make some . If I ever open my Etsy store....(I mean, when), I will offer these as a craft supply . They are mostly free form, flat on one side and domed on top . I plan on sewing on a small metal ring to attach to bag or garments . A few are started by using a tiny cookie cutter form and then free needle felting a bit more shape to the petals . Anyway, they take 20min and are a fun and mindless project while watching TV .

I played around using different fiber...mohair, silk, merino...different style (my favorite is the free form one of course ) .

Below is the new addition to my craft pile....some much needed cotton thread for helping me turn my stash of wet felt fabric into bags, hats, cuffs, etc . Look for some sewing felt projects in the next few weeks and have fun with your own experimenting !

Needle felt bear and trick for cleaning wool

2010-11-22T11:50:00.000-06:00

Well, this is the latest addition to my felted furry family posing in front of some washed wool that will likely go into making more fuzzy friends . I will try and get a more scenic picture of him if the sun ever returns to MN .

.....and.....TaaDaa....this is my genius invention for washing wool when you don't have a washing machine to scour it . Submerged in the tub is about 3 pds of some Icelandic wool I bought in Hopkins a few weeks ago . It had very little VM but was very odoriferous . Icelandic has less lanolin then many other wools so I thought I would give washing it a try .

I began by cleaning the bathtub and then filled it with the hottest water we have...to hot for hands I but didn't bother with a thermometer so not sure of actual temp .

I added some Dharma Synthropol and a little Original Dawn and mixed this about .

I them upended my wool bag onto some plastic screening that I bought at a garage sale....it's the kind that you would use for a screen door . Pores are large enough to let water through but small enough to keep the wool bits out of our drain . The size was about two feet larger then the top of the tub when it was submerged and I was lucky that it happened to be pre-cut to that size .

I then gathered the wool filled screen like a ruck sack and slowly submerged it in the water . Having it compacted into the ruck sack shape helps keep it from agitating to much .

I held the sides of the plastic screening onto the top of the tub ledges with some shampoo bottles but magnets would also work well .

I let the whole thing simmer in tub for 30 min and then gatherd into ruck sack shape again and pressed the water out and while compacted (to avoid felting fibers before I'm ready to), rinsed it with my hand help shower head . I then refilled the tub with fresh water and soap . I did this 3X but basically you just want your last water to be clear and not brown .

After I thought it was clean enough, I again ruck sacked it= gathering in all edges, and rinsed with the hand held shower head and when finished squeezed out as much water as I could . I placed the bundle on a piece of fire place screen that I used as a display at a craft show but I really need to go to the garage and get out the other 2 sections so I can spread the wool out a bit more for drying . It's about 30 degrees out side right now, so that's not an option but I am considering putting a bit in the oven to see what happens and using a blow drier to experiment with drying it faster....mouldy wool does not sound pleasant . Wish me luck .

Anyway, I wouldn't want to be doing this for a living but it is "doable" and modern technology....(running water, shower heads, plastic screening) make it bearable when you can't afford the fancy prewashed wool . I have to say it is much easier then trying to wash a cat.....(no claws) .

GameStop Rocks Christmas contest

2010-11-22T10:12:00.000-06:00

Mama’s Holiday Wish List Meme

TodaysMama (link to: http://bit.ly/tmwishlist) and GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) are giving away a sleighful of gifts this holiday season and to enter I’m sharing this meme with you.

1. What is your holiday wish for your family?

My Holiday wish is that I could spend it with my BF's family as it has been to many years since we have seen them and they are such wonderful people .

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition?

It seems like I always end up working Christmas Eve over night so the morning tends to be coming home and giving cats a special breakfast and going to sleep .
3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?

I suppose my own Polar Bear is out of the question....so next would be a horse or someone who would come to my apartment and help me clean and organize .

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?

Having my favorite people and animals around doesn't cost a dime and that IS what makes the Holidays special ....that and my mom's cookies .

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?

Lots of card games and more recently dominoes....(.I grew up in a pre-Gamestop world .)

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?

I don't recall to many traditions other then eating decadent food with less guilt .

7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip?

Either Kansas or Florida to be with family .
8. Check out GameStop (link to: http://bit.ly/gamestop10) and tell us, what are the three top items on your GameStop Wish List this year?

Well, I tried to get some cool pictures from GameStop but am not tech savoy enough to cut and past the images so.....uhhm .

I would love a Wii with the Yoga mat and sports board because we are in some serious need of exercise here and I would like to get Flicker here .

The Kenect looks really awesome and would also help shed some Holiday pounds .

I would love some learning and gaming software for my computer .

Well, I think that's it, I've never won a contest before but couldn't pass this one up so go check out the links listed and enter on your own blog .

Needle Sculpting with Mohair and Merino blend

2010-11-18T11:51:00.002-06:00

I needle felted a few more friends this week . Despite my resolution to not make more as I have run out of room to display them in my own apartment and have still not managed to set up my Etsy shop , I could not resist the urge to needle felt .

This is one step closer to setting up an Etsy shop however, as I am "practicing" taking pictures using my wet felt wool table runner and a print of one of my favorite paintings .

I'm not sure if it's to distracting to others, but I really like the surreal look of it .

Taking pictures also helped me see that I am a bit out of practice needle sculpting . I need to add bigger eye lids and more pink roving to the mouth area of the large mohair animal . It looked fine in "person" but looks washed out in the picture and the eyes are a bit spookier then I had intended .

well ....I am losing the light but thought I would go ahead and post the "after" picture . I added a bit of pink to the inner ear and snout and eye lids and think they help , though he actually looks pretty upset about something . If there a market for smirking, disgruntled or angry animals , I think I have it covered .

Also forgot to mention how much I like using the mohair for the "loose hair bits " . The individual hairs stand out much better then when I have tried this with my usual merino .

I really am going to try and organize my crafts and begin posting my felt on Etsy this week . It would be nice to make a few sales before Christmas....then again, I've been saying that since last year so the operative word here is "try" .

needle felt jewelry ...and cat peace

2010-11-16T04:22:00.000-06:00

Finally took some of the hundreds of needle felted "beads" I make when I'm to tired to sculpt and animal and added them to the sculpted wool amulets and mixed them with some semi-precious stones, glass and pearls to make these necklaces . Obviously, not for the faint of heart , no dainty chains and butterflies here just bold colors, textures and shapes . Large but amazingly light weight...one of the advantages of wool .

I wasn't exactly sure how I would bead these but s large sewing needle and regular Beadalon worked fine . The only draw back is that I had to constantly take the needle off, thread the beading wire through the bead then rethread and sew through the wool bead...repeat x 100 . I like the contrast though so it was worth the effort for me .

Wet felt fabric to sew into....? probably bags but I might make a few cuffs and pins as well .

Up-date on Balhoo and Max....best buddies in less then a week . I think Balhoo was starved for another boy to chase and wrestle with and Max has much the same desire...win/win .

Both recovering from a bout of "chase and wrestle "

Balhoo says that Max tastes delicious !

Hope your all enjoying felting along with preparing for winter Holidays .

Needle felt jewelry from peapod brooches to "knot braclets"

2010-11-09T16:41:00.001-06:00

I haven't done much felting this past week as it has been filled with cat wrangling . The below pieces are made using a slightly new method that some might be interested in, though I warn that it does take some patience .

I started with a piece of roving about 3X the length of your wrist and then knotted along it's length . The knots should be firm but not hard as you don't want to brake your needle . I then just firmed the fiber from one end to the next leaving a few inches of fiber at each end to connect the piece into a circle .

I made a smaller knotted roving to make the red "peas" and then lightly felted (prefelted) some green roving and felted it over the red knotted peas .

The larger braid is the beginning of either a pet collar or a choker but I just not sure what to do to finish it off The two smaller circle pins will be decorated with a few beads and a pin back and used to decorate a purse or scarf .


Needle felt jewelry

Welcome Max the cat

2010-11-07T23:37:00.001-06:00

Welcome our new family member Max....Mitch, my SO, says he is the cat version of a Great Pyrenees dog which I would love to get if I ever had the space for a dog...not likely this life time but one can always dream . In the mean time....this guy will do . We got him "accidentally" after a quick visit to Human Society . (I just went to look !)

He's almost 13 pounds of muscle and fluff....lots and lots of fluff that I have already started collecting to felt myself a scarf . Thankfully, he loves to be brushed as much as cuddled . The only draw back so far.....is his housemate Balhoo , our black fluff ball, is not really sure that he needs such a big "little brother" . Balhoo had really enjoyed several years of hunting and pouncing on his big sister Wolf , a 17 year old cat 1/3 his weight . A bit like matching your grandma with The Rock in a cage match . He's not so fond of the odds now but thankfully Max is a gentle giant and not really interested in proving his dominance .

Below, Balhoo takes a quick sniff of the interloper . I think that's pretty good progress in relations for 24 hours....look how long it's taken to try and find peace in the Middle East .

wet felt scarf with silk gauze on bottom and merino accented with silk bell caps

2010-11-01T21:04:00.001-05:00

I wish I could figure out a better way to photo large head scarves . As the title suggests...these are a layer of wool between silk gauze on the bottom and silk bells on top....silk and wool sandwich . The top picture is showing the turquoise silk bells spread over the blue and peach merino . The silk base is sort of a deep pink .

The above picture is the back side, the wool colors are showing through the peach silk gauze . I found it interesting how the blue wool on the reverse side looks purple when seen through the peach silk scarf base .

I am really enthralled with the texture created by the thin wisps of the silk bell as the wool shrinks up with felting . It looks bumpy but they are silk "bumps" and really soft . I think this would be a beautiful head scarf or shoulder shawl on a sleeveless black dress . As you can see, I'm still not quit ready for winter colors .