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

 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

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 ).

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

 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 .

needle felt animals, fuzzy forest friends

Remember the pre-furry otter who looked nothing like an otter ? This is him....after I tried several layers of different colored wool (lacking patience to wait for my fur colored roving), my brown roving finally arrived . His face is hand dyed merino from Chamelion Colorworks which she calls Earth. His body is fernwood blended merino from Ashland Bay sold by Eweniquely Ewe Fiber on Etsy and baby alpaca locks from North Star Alpaca . The mass of locks are not easy to work with but well worth the effort in my opinion .
I think the end result was worth the several days of constant poking and the long ears give him a bunny look but his tail is long and thick and acts as a tri-pod to help him stand . He's a big boy and must way at least a pound .
I can't even begin to guess what this guy is and both creatures are more stylized then realistic . At least, I have never seen them wandering around my neighborhood .

I hate to wait to get more of this color but Chamelion is on vacation until the end of the month and I'm broke anyway, so.....looks like I will have to wait .
Below is the lovely selection of Ashland Bay merino and silk blends that I bought from Eweniquely Ewe and hope to use to make some wet felting and nuno felting . I still need to get organized to dye the many yards of silk fabric I bought a month ago . (I keep forgetting to buy vinegar to use with the dye .) Hopefully I will remember to bring my camera when I begin the dying so I can have a tutorial .

Happy felting ( and don't forget you can click on the pictures for more detail and click the fiber sellers names to get some of this yummy fiber .... I love click technology !)