Last week off, I had every intention of listing items on Etsy with a friends assistance . ...and then my brain happened . I decided that I wanted a new store name . "Stars Apon Thars" was meant to reflect my original idea of making items our of recycled materials which is something that I have always done for myself but...then I got hooked on felting and can't seem to keep the needle out of my hand . So...before I can list, I needed to decide on a new name, new logo, new labels .
Now ? You really need to do that now, right before the Christmas listings....are you nuts ? Uhhhm, yep, but I'm also a master at self delusion and avoidance of things that are uncomfortably hard for me...like listing items .
Enough of the psycho babble and on to some felting fun......
Instead of listing items, my friend and I jabbered and she shared some of the newly spun art yarn from a class she took . They were all cool but I loved the one with tons of angelica " (shiny), the best and decided to experiment with using it to make some Christmas decorations . I used some core wool to make a ball and then wrapped and needle felted the yarn over it . I also hope to use some of it to make braided necklaces for some of my bamboo pendants.
The felted jungle grows ....
This was actually another experiment that I have tried before but thought I would give another go at . It's a mouse/hamster....rodent 0f some sort that I made out of alpaca and then covered in several layers of some kind of fuzzy wool yarn which I then needle felted into place . It actually took all night and I wasted a lot of the detail once I added the yarn on top but it does feel soft and fuzzy and would make a good pocket pet .
(Baby got "back")
This is one of my larger sculptures and I worked about 16 hours felting him . I also tried another experiment using some acid free/permanent marker for the lips and nose to try and get a less fuzzy/shinier surface) but it didn't really give the effect I had hoped for and I will have to go over it with some black roving .
This is actually after the second night and before I firmed up the detailing . I never really know when to stop and I actually like that I can go back and make alterations if the mood strikes .
This was a huge gamble in my experimenting . I didn't really think it would work and was concerned about wasting about $16 in materials but I like the end result . I needle felted merino/Tencel and a bit of cobweb silk into some "slinky"(<----google this...really interesting material_, and then wet felted it . If you want a better idea of the texture and detailing you can click on the pictures and once they pop up, click again and it's like they are magnified....I love clicky technology : )
The end result is a highly textured new fabric .
One side is softer and covered by the wool (this is a spiral button I was thinking of adding) .
You can see the silk cobweb...it's a turquoise color and felted really well .
This shows the reverse side where the wool pushed through and puckered the slinky material into a pebbly texture . Once done, I realized that this is not the kind of scarf I would wear, as I prefer really soft, fuzzy and squishy . This has to much structure and texture for me but I do love the way the colors work together . I am considering cutting this up to make two purses and a wrist cuff .
This shows the contrast of the two sides.....woolly and pebbly .I do think there is some potential here, even if not the one I had originally intended . I think this would a make some really cool reversable bags ....if I can work out the basic design and hand sew it ...... But it sure would be less work if someone would actually like it as a scarf ? (I wish I had abetter grasp of what normal people like . )
As an aside ...I never know if anyone reads this blog or is interested in tutorials but if at least 3 people respond saying they want to know how to make something like this, I promise to share .
