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Oh look! It's Mr. Woolpets getting ready to hop on his bike to bring a package of kits to the post. He's doing his part to conserve gasoline. But why the two helmets?
Oh that's right, he's Special.....
I told you we liked to make fun of ourselves!
I'm heading down to the Bay area this weekend to participate in the Maker Faire. I've never been before so I am not sure what to expect, but I'm sure it will be fun and exciting. I'll try and take lots of photos to post on my blog next week when I get back.
I'll be felting away in the Maker Shed on Saturday and Sunday, May 3rd and 4th. Stop by and say hi. There will be lots of other cool demos going on all over the Faire. Inspiration guaranteed!
I was browsing Martha Stewart's site this morning and discovered a new crafty networking website called CraftStylish.
The site has lots of ideas, patterns and articles written by a long list of crafty contributing editors. CraftStylish is a division of Taunton Press , publishers of Threads Magazine, Fine Woodworking and others. Check it out!
....when cloudy was the weather
I thought of this Mother Goose nursery rhyme this morning as I looked across Miller Bay. Looks a bit like an coastal town in Norway, or Alaska. I love the different greens of the trees and the way the clouds settle on top of the hills.
More from the Threadbared blog.
I know you're laughing! I think I may have owned a skirt like this way back when........
Need a good laugh? I found this book at my library the other day, in the 'new' section and I had to post about it. Sooo funny-if you like the kind of humor that makes fun of people. (Which Kevin and I do,but not in a mean way. We like to make fun of ourselves.)
Here is a sample of the fun (click on the photo so you can read the text):
These two clever gals who wrote this book also have maintained a blog for the last 2 years, Threadbared.com right here on Typepad. I've somehow missed the blog until now, and I just read that they posted their last post! Oh well, at least they gave us this great book. I wonder what they'll be doing next.......
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of teaching 7 lovely ladies the art of needle felting. Boy was it fun! I'm really beginning to enjoy teaching. At first, I was nervous. I had lots of experience teaching little kids 5 years old and under, but not their moms. Turns out I like to teach adults, too. It is very exciting for me to see how happy people are after they've made a little critter all their own!
Here are some not quite finished animals from the class. We ran out of time for working the details, such as eyes, mouth, etc. But we got the main body parts done.
Here's a fox, elephant and sheep (no ears on the sheep yet.)
I was really impressed with the way these two ponies turned out. So darn cute. And, neither of the ladies who made these had any needle felting experience! So you people out there who are afraid to learn needle felting- fear not!
I'll be teaching another class on Sunday, April 20th at Esthers Fabrics on Bainbridge Island.
Hope everyone has a great week!
Most mornings follow a similar pattern; wake up to the baa baa of Carmella the Sheep, walk the dogs, get a big cup of coffee and sit down to work.
Today, I am working on an elephant for an upcoming show. I find it very helpful to look at pictures of the animal that I am trying to re-create.
I keep an informal list of things I want to try and make. Once I finish a project, I try to make a replica so that the techniques stay within the memory of my hands. I learned that if I only made a new thing once, I might not be able to do it again. It can be difficult to work out new designs but the hands and eyes seem to have a way of 'remembering'.
This little gal said that she wants to ride on the elephant's back after I'm finished.
I've seen many a sane person talk to their needle felted creations. I guess if you put your heart and soul into something you've made, it seems to possess some sort of personality. Other people sense that 'aliveness' and are drawn to it.
Stay tuned for the finished photos. Happy Weekend!
I've been working on making birds larger than I normally do. The robin is about 7" long, almost the size of a real one. The snowy owl is about 7" tall. Definitely not as large as a real snowy owl.
There seems to be a buzz in the crafty world about these Russian nesting dolls, sometimes called 'Matryoshka' or 'Babooshka' dolls. I've been experimenting with a few needle felted designs but I haven't quite figured out how to make the dolls hollow inside, split in the middle and stackable.
This gal is solid wool and she has a pocket in front for her little baby.
She's available on Etsy.
