Purple Polarbear for Shepherd's Harvest

Polar bears are one of my all time favorite animals . This one is has a firmly felted body of Romney and over laid with several layers of marino . I wanted to try and new technique to get a shaggy, furry look and did his fur by layering one inch pieces of fiber from the back and bottom up and forward so that each layer over laps but has some lose ends just anchored at the root . I like the look and the several different lavender shades . Down side....it take forever to do and loses some of the detailing that I spent hours adding to the body..upside...lots of ,shaggy goodness .

Shepherd's Harvest ....and my friend Jane

For any others who love animals and natural fibers, have a desire to promote small family business or just want a nice day of family fun...Shepherd's Harvest could be the answer to all your needs . You can find directions and other important info here...

http://www.shepherdsharvestfestival.org/index.shtml


It is held on Mother's day Weekend and would be a great event to bring your crafty mom's to.

This will be my first ever craft show and one I would not be doing at all if it weren't for the inspiration and constant support of my friend Jane of Tranquil Nook/Glorioushats found on Etsy.com . You can read her recently lovely and revamped blog here.....

http://glorioushats.blogspot.com/

She makes some amazing hats, pins and actually knows how to use a sewing machine AND run a small farm . She agreed to partner with me in sharing a booth at Shepherds Harvest and we plan on spending the whole weekend selling, taking pictures of all the cute alpaca, sheep and bunnies as well as bringing home some great new fiber to work with.

Most of the items I am working on will be on this blog in the next few months but...the above doll will not be there because she is making a trip North to visit Jane. Long over due promise of a doll coming your way Jane : ) She is smaller then most of the dolls I repurpose and a bit more conservative as I decided to use more spring colors . Her arms are slightly posable but she is so well bundled that she can't sit down and does need to be propped up to stand . All her clothing is actually needle felted on except for the boots and purse which are sewn of some wet felted Alpaca . I felted down a spiral on her coat that was made of some beautiful thick yarn from Copperpot@Etsy.com
I love the yarn and plan on using it for several necklaces because it is so soft, thick and such a beautiful blend of colors .

SO come see me as Shepherds Harvest and treat your mom and yourself to a day of cute animals and lovely fiber .

I can't draw worth a dang but am not to bad at copying what's in front of me...these were just a few imgages I thought about using for designs for a business card or for needle felting .

sheep, octopus, Nessy, comit and flowers...oh my !

Still practicing my needle work and some OK and some just funny . The top and bottom are going to be berets, just a few silly pictures on a wet felted backing .

The 2nd and 3rd are my rather lame attempt at sheep. I thought the back ground turned out rather nice and then just "had" to throw some sheep into the mix . Wasn't my best idea, given that I was doing them from memory and my memory on the best of days is a bit flawed ....I still need to add some tails and ears but could not recall what they looked like . Another problem was that I was trying to make a wee sheep family...kid laying down for a rest, and mom standing next to dad . However, trying to fit them all in was a bit more challenging then I realized....mom and dad's legs are tangled and it looks a bit like an octopus sheep...also, didn't plan out how big they would be and several of their legs are cut off at the knees .

Next time, I will bring a picture with me .

I should be getting ready for work but a few quick pics of some of my felting from last night...beads to string, hair clips and a new "design"...padded pens . I wrap the pens in these little foam pads and then felt the fiber over it. I think they are pretty comfortable but the colors didn't show up very well here .

Items for Shepherd's Harvest..pins, berets and neck collars

The top picture is of some of the hair pins I needle felted and beaded . I tired a pair yesterday and they work great . The next pic is some pins I actually made a few weeks ago and lost amongst my crafting stuff, (that's one advantage of cleaning up, you never know what you might find .) The third pics are off some pins and berets I made last night...two abstract little necklace focal pieces, a larger "over flowing bath tub" beret and smaller "flying eye at sunset" beret. The bottom pic is of one of my "odder creations" ...neck collars, I plan on adding some "earthy" beads to these and button connectors . The fiber is wet felted alpaca sweater in the center and Romney needle felted around the edge . I was going to needle felt the whole thing but I really liked the curly alpaca fiber in the middle which doesn't really show up in the pictures but looks cool in real life .

Felted turtle

"I've fallen and I can't get up"...certainly had a few days like this . First free standing needle felting..about 4" and almost as many hours and I still didn't get his shell finished . I was trying to do a turtle from "memory" but can't quit visualize the shell color . I used to have an empty turtle shell that I think I found at Girl Scout camp and brought home as a "pet" . A very quit but slightly odoriferous pet . I glued googly eyes to it and it was one of my "prized posessions" . Well, it was fun to make but I can see why people charge so much for these little felted critters...they take forever to make and felt doesn't actually shape as easily as clay but the upside is no muddy fingers . As always, upside and downside to everything, including this little guy .

Arctic "furmaiden" furbie/ Smoky Mountain Fibers Etsy.com

This little Arctic mermaid...(not to be confused with her thinner Southern mermaid sisters) , loves to spend her days throwing snowballs at penguins and sliding on the ice with the Polar Bear cubs .

Her fur is a wonderfully soft Marino and I keep a bit of the the originally furbie "fur" to frame her face because it reminded me of ice crystals . Her base was shaped with Romney, which I still think makes the best underfiber for the Marino because it sculpts so firmly. I wet felted her dreadlocks and attached them to the "ear posts" that move so that they can still be functional but with hair instead of ears. I just couldn't recall ever seeing mermaids with ears . Of course, I will also be making her a "furbie" polar bear cub to play with as well as a penguin . One project just seems to lead to another and I'm having a great time with these little guys/girls .

Another kudos to an Etsy seller of beautifuly dyed Marino on Etsy...Smokey Mountain Fibers .
I loved the color of this and it was a major inspiration for deciding to try a mermaid....the color is just perfect for "water" and makes you want to dive into the soft pile . I searched and searched but could not find one piece of VM in this...simply perfect !

Cat Toy or necklace ?

Just a simple little experiment that turned out as planned....(I love when that happens ). I found a great deal on some scrap leather from Axeman and decided that they would make perfect cat toys after my cat attacked them as soon as I opened the bag . I had already made them several needle felted wool balls that they loved, so it was a natural to just needle felt the balls directly to the leather thongs . Unlike 90% of the toys I've bought at the store for them...they actually played with these new toys . Amazing, maybe it's the sheep smell or just wanting whatever that thing is that mom spends all her time doing now but they sure seem to enjoy their new toys .

I also decided that these might make some fun and inexpensive necklaces, but was not sure about "durability", so I have been wearing mine all week, even sleeping in it but taking it off for showers and it looks as new as when I put it on...these things actually are really strong . They have survived cat abuse and Denise use and only take 20 minutes to felt .

Furbie with Northstar Alpaca

Just a quick post before I have to rush off for work . This is bigfoot, not a Yeti but probably in the same family . I do hope to make a few real Yeti in the near future...I love those guys . This has a Romney base for the shape and then alpaca needle felted over it . I still need to add a bit more fiber in a few spots and attach the ears but wanted to catch my few hours of morning light .

Fleecemakers Fibers on Etsy

I said I wanted to mention some of the stores I had been buying fleece from and Fleecemakers Fibers on Etsy.com, is one of my first . She has some really beautifully dyed Romney, (great variety of colors) and although some recommend Marino for felting....I think the Romney needle felts much easier, tighter and quicker then the finer and less crimpy Marino . The trade off is that it is not as soft as Marino but that is not really an issue when your felting sculptures or wall hangings, purse decorations or anything that doesn't have to lay against the skin . It is soft and not "itchy" at all and would be fine for making scarves or yarns ....it's just not "as soft" as the Marino which feels like silk . (There's also no/very little VM to pick out which I have found more of in the finer fibers .)

I would also recommend the undyed Romney for the base fiber when making 3D sculptures . It felts so quickly and it generally less expensive as a shaper/filler . If you want the softness, you can then overlay it with some of the Marino or Alpaca . So....just one "newbies" opinion, give it a try and see what you think .

Furbie stripped and alpaca felted

Well, my first attempt with the Alpaca . My very fat cat posed for this one . This took much longer then I thought it would...about 8 hours . I built up the body shape using a hand knit alpaca sweater that I had wet felted . It was a beautiful "looking" sweater but who ever knitted it had not removed the guard hairs and it was to itchy to wear but perfect for shaping onto the furbie frame . After sewing the basic shape, I laid down the alpaca trying to keep natural hair direction in mind and gently poked to try and avoid "poke holes...( I hate those) .
Most of the feber I used for this one was from "Frugal Farms Alpaca" and althought it looked beautiful and felt soft ....there was a lot more VM then I had originally realized . The seller was completely honest about this and the price reflected the inconvenience...only $1.00 an ounce....very frugal and perfect for a first project . I think picking it out added another hour to the felting however . Alpca feels alot like Marino...maybe even softer, so it does take a bit longer to get it to felt but is stayed much softer then the quicker felting Romney .

The tummy is a bit of sheep fur and the lighter paw color is some of the fiber from North Star Alpaca . Now that I think I have the basic idea of working with this....I am going to try and make this next little animal purely out of her fiber...(Yea, no VM to pick out...should go quicker ) .