bunny pins and black and white with milk protien fiber

I don't usually use patterns or molds for my felting but I bought some cute Easter cookie cutters and wanted to try and mix a quicker method with adding my own detailing . I like the bunnies above...each is given an hour of detailing to make them 3D but I stll need to add some bead eyes and pin backs . The butterflies....didn't turn out very good, to thick to look real , I tried making thinner ones and prefelting (with a needle) to add onto the white wet felt scarf (below) but again, once felted, just to thick and bulky looking .

After a week of rain and dark skies, I now have to bright a sun to take good pictures . The above fabric is one layer of very fluffy merino with one long strip of dyed merino gently teased apart and layed in the opposite direction . Both the white and black merino felted much thicker then I had intended .

The above black scarf was supposed to be a spider web scarf but it felted really tight and fast with only one layer of black and some scattered white merino and dyed milk protien fibers .I really like the milk protien but the bright sun has really washed out how bright and pretty they are here so you will have to take my wrd for it . I think they were very staticy to work with and have to be pulled apart gently so that the fibers are far enough apart to let the wool fibers hook onto them , but it did not stick to my fingers as much as the silk . It is a bit expenssive per ounce but a little goes a long way .

cute little woolie and some great new fiber from GreenwoodFiberworks

This is actually another "do over" . wasn't happy with the brown eyes and body I had originally made and added some of my new "fur looking fiber and redid the eyes . I also added some teeth because I had made the bottom jaw to large . Point being . Even if your not happy with something you have made , put it aside and go back to it later . It still may not be perfect but the great thing about felt is that you can keep adding layers until you get something better .
This little bit of weirdness is a wool dread that I added to the end of my own braid just to see if you could needle felt directly into hair . Spoiler alert......You can . I just added a few inches to the end of the braid that I was planning on cutting off, but it was still in great shape after a few days and I think there is some potential for this ideal for people who want to add a few dreads or just add color to their current dreads . Easypeasy . I even thought about going into some local tattoo shops and see if anyone was interested in learning how to do this......(In exchange for a new tattoo for me ? )

My BF says that this looks like an animal that is "scooting"...... useing the lawn as toilet paper...(ewe) My intention was just a baby animal leaning forward through his back legs . There is something about that pose I find adorable . His fur is felted from some of the new "Heathered" fiber I bought from Greenwood Fiberworks on Etsy . Below is the rest of the stash that just arrived and I absolutely love the heather (her term) which has a darker subtle tone running through out that adds so much depth to the colors . Click on the picture if you want the full effect .

Not only are her colors earthy and gorgious, the fiber is a very fluffy, soft merino that felts better then most of the factory processed fibers I was using last week . Often the factory processed merino is so smooth it takes much longer to felt then the hand-dyed I buy on Etsy . One suggestion I have read for this facotry smooth fiber is using a bit of steam to open the fiber before felting it.....(as if I would ever be organized enough to do that . )

I also treated myself to a couple of ounces of Milk silk fiber ,(In the plastic bag in back). Although it doesn't "felt", it can be used like you would use silk in adding a bit of interesting texture to wet felting....just make sure it is mixed with wool or trapped by the wool to felt it down .

Furry and Fiesty Needle Felt

I missed the best photo light of the day but wanted to share my latest "needle felties" before I had to go back to work for the week . I think I may be busy tomorrow . I have an appointment with my BF's "tax guy" and was hoping to write off business expenses for all the wool I bought this year but......I am a cronically disorganized person who hates businessy things, so don't know if I will actually make it to the appointment . I kept most of my reciepts this year but hunting them down and adding them up hurts my brain .

needle felted Easter family

These are a couple of cuffs I'm working on . I needle felted merino onto a bit of Alpaca sweater that I fulled(felted) in the washing machine . I still need to bead and add closures but it will be a nice break from my usual finger poking fun .

It's a fuzzy family get together . One of the joys of working with animal fibers is that it seems to work so well in creating fuzzy friends and I have never had enough fuzzy friends . (Have to admit, it is nice to have a few that I don't have to clean their toilet every day . )

I know his hands are HUGE and I could make him more realistic by redoing them but I kind of like them "as is" and his arms are movable which makes it fun to animate his posture . I really need to learn how to use my camara to take movie shorts so I can do a little play on UTUBE with my critters .

Why do half my animals look like they would rip your arms off if given the chance ? Honestly, they are all just as sweet as me : ) and want nothing more then to get a few laughs and hugs from a friend . This cynical looking bunny is done "Big Eyed Art" style which is something my BF and I collect . Funny how in most fo those pictures, the big eyes make animals look sweet and vulnerable and mine just looks like he has become psychotic from smoking to much crack .......(or am I just imagining that ?) Maybe it's just the bad lighting . If the sun ever comes out in Minnesota, I will try and retake the picture and see if he looks a bit less gloomy . He really is much friendlier looking in person .


Happy felting and please go give your fuzzy friends a hug .

Quick Linkk to Hot fashion inspiration

Fashionable.....me? Well, I am cutting edge . I am still hoping that my "dumpster chic" will catch on....current wardrobe consists mostly of T-Shirts with animals on them worn with flannel PaJama pants .....(Who was this genius fashionista named "Pajama" and how did he know that Pink Flamingos, Sock Monkeys and Swamp Monster flannel fabric would make such charming pant wear?)


That said, even if my own fashion sense is based on "comfortable and inexpensive" , even I can appreciate the art that goes into some clothing . The link below shows some great examples of that and some of it actually doesn't look painful to wear.....(I assumed that was a requirement of fashion.) One of my "To Do Someday" is to get a sewing dummy.........(I AM one, but am refering to the cloth kind you drape fabric on) and learn how to make my own patterns . I really have some gorgeous old clothing that I would like to re-purpose and refuse to part with because of this ....someday dream . I don't yet qualify for Hoarders show but 90% of the clothing filling my closets is things I don't wear but hope to craft with.....someday .

My obsessions are a bit like someone sitting in Urgent care waiting patiently for their turn for attention while the blood slowly leaks from an open wound....Will they get attention before their time expires ? Only time will tell .

http://couturefashionweek.wordpress.com/

Needle felting until the dreaded stomach bug bit me

This is the base of the needle felt alien tree/mushroom that I am making to hang my alien pod necklaces from . It's about 20 inches tall and the core is some of my re-purposed felting mat . I have three layers of Romney and merino laid on this and it is taking much longer then I had anticipated . Since it is "Alien" , I am using my artistic license to make it as weird as I want , which is always fun . It's really firmly felted right now, but I'm still considering wet felting it to make the colors blend together a bit more organically . I still need to add a mushroom top which I hope to do in wet felting and a needle felt base to make it more stable .

Above and below are just a few more of my critters . Not much new except I don't usually felt on clothing (my critters feel no shame), but the brown "bear" came from some roving called Chocolate raspberry truffle , so I wanted to use a bit of the raspberry on him .

....As far as the stomach bug....(I read up on it and it is not a real flu but is a virus) and it has been 3 days developing a very close relationship with my bathroom.....less said about that the better, but there is something "going around", so be forewarned . I have been doing everything that the experts recommend....no solid food while you feel nausias then only easily digested foods......For me that is those little bullion cubes and small amounts of Romen noddles . I've started feeling a little better after 3 days but still having symptoms while others have had it and it cleared up in a day....I'm not use to be sicking, so am being a big baby about it but probably have to go to work tonight anyway...(that is where I got it. so no risk of infecting anyone who hasn't already had it .

Happy crafting and hope the bug doesn't fly your way .

Wild things from "Strange Land" for Shepherds Harvest

For more detail, just click on the pictures.....


Here are my two last sculptures for Strange Land . My long term plan is to make a felt tree with some fiber I am waiting for and hang my "alien pods" from it and surround it with the Strange Land "wild things" for a group shot . I would like to make that into postcards with my shop name on it but still don't HAVE a shop....ooops . I seem to do well in thinking about the details and vaguely seeing long term, but have a lot of trouble with all the stuff in the middle .
I started this with the idea of making a dragon and used really thick copper-wire to make the legs pose-able , but as I laid the silk and alpaca fiber over the shape it started reminding me of a mallard duck , so I went with a chimera...duck feet -shark fin-dragon face .....(sort of) . Well, what ever he is...I think the colors turned out pretty . I may still add some nuno felt wings .
This big guy, started life as a gerbil or guinea pig........then there was a nuclear meltdown in my brain and he became one of the wild things....but not before going through a brief metamorphoses as a spookie Homer Simpson until I added more fur . I really should get the camera out during the different stages because what I start out making seldom reflects what I end up with.....I often feel like the wool is controlling me more then that I am taming the wool .
Handsome, he is not, but I think he would give you a very gentle hug and the alpaca fur is very soft .
I made this little guy for my dentists' new baby . I hope she likes it enough to come to Shepherds Harvest in May and check out the alpaca and sheep that went into making it . I can hardly wait !

And so ends two more weeks of finger poking good fun in preparation for Shepherds Harvest .