WoolPets

Woolpets Needle Felting Kit Review

As part of my interview on CraftSanity, Jennifer posted a review of the Penguin Needle Felting Kit on her website, CraftSanity.com.
Special thanks to Beverly over at Taccolina for writing such a wonderful review.

Here's her cute penguin -

Weekend Needle Felting Classes - Bunnies, etc.

On a cold and very wet day here in the Pacific Northwest, I had the pleasure of teaching a needle felting workshop from the comforts of my own home. We had a roaring fire, tea and good company.

This next set is from a class I taught today with the 'Jazzerbabes'.

Gotta love those bunny - buns!

Felted Egg Tutorial

I'm going to offer tutorials on this blog, and since Easter is just around the corner, felted eggs seemed like a good project for today. My little friend Pixie is going to help show you how to make a needle/wet felted egg.

1. Start with a handful of roving. Fluff the roving by pulling the layers apart.

2. Next, roll the roving into a tight, round barrel shape.

3. Make sure to tuck the ends in as you roll.

4. Needle the surface of the rolled-up wool to help keep the fibers in place.

5. Get a bucket or bowl of warm, soapy water and dip the egg in. Try not to get it totally soaked.

This is Pixie's favorite part.

Except he likes to add too much soap!

6. Place the wet egg inside of two colanders and put a rubber band around the handles to hold them together. Then shake up the egg while singing 'Shake Your Booty'. The shaking will help felt the egg.

7. The egg might be more round that egg - shaped when you  remove it from the colanders. Roll it to re-shape.

8. After the egg has dried, use a contrasting color of roving and needle a design on the surface.

9. Share it with a friend!

Grandma Woolpets came up with another great way to make felted eggs. She bought some styrofoam eggs and needled wool roving over the surface to cover. Then, she stuffed the wool - covered egg into a stocking and threw it in the wash for 3 hot cycles. When she took the egg out, it was nicely felted and beautiful!

Have fun!

CraftSanity Podcast Interview

Earlier this year, I had the honor of being interviewed for an episode of CraftSanity; a podcast by Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood about art, craft and creativity. The podcast was posted late last night. I haven't listened to it yet but here is the link .

Jennifer is a great person to talk with; she's very easy going, down to earth and above all, she has a great sense of humor.  Some of her past podcasts featured such crafty celebrities as Betz White , Alicia Paulson and Anna Maria Horner.

CraftSanity gives listeners a peek into the lives of creative people, their families, lifestyles, etc. Every time I listen to an episode, there is something I can identify with in the interview, which helps us crafty folks feel more connected. One of the drawbacks to working for myself with my own business is the isolation and lack of outside stimulation from other crafters. Jennifer brings us all together  and I can honestly say that listening to CraftSanity has made a positive impact on my artisitc life.

Listen, enjoy and tell me what you think! And listen to the other interviews, too! They are all very entertaining and interesting.

LED Sheep Art

Watch and be amazed!

New Kits for Spring

I am so excited to finally get out the new kits. So many people have given me suggestions for animals to make up in a kit and I really appreciate it! Pigs and Chickens came up quite often, so here they are.

 This spring, a new shade of roving called Cupcake was introduced and I immediately began working on a pig kit. Cupcake seemed just the right shade of pink for a porky needle felted pig.

 

The pig kit contains enough wool to make at least one 3 inch long pig and maybe even a smaller piglet.
The step-by-step photo instructions are clear and easy to follow. The pig kit involves more subtle shaping than some of the other more straight forward kits (ie. penguin) so it is rated 'Intermediate'.

 

Keeping in with the farm theme, or so it seems, next is the Chickens kit. 

There is enough wool in the kit to make at least one toffee colored chicken and one golden chicken and maybe a few little chicks.

Might be a good idea for an Easter basket gift.

And, we here at Woolpets Central decided that the frog in the 'Frog' kit should be available as a green frog, rather than orange.  Word on the street was that not many people like orange, and orange frogs are poisonous.  So here's a good ole' fashion Green frog kit-

You can probably make one or two frogs, about 3 inches long. Isn't he handsome -

 

These three kits (and many others) can be found at my shop.

Updated Website

A couple of the galleries on the Woolpets website have been updated with new photos. Here's a sneak peek.

 New in the 'Current Work' gallery.

This one from 'The Farm' gallery. Bert is our swingin' bunny who's taken up residence with the chickens. Yep, he cozies up with them at night and they haven't pecked him to death. Here he is with one of his favorite ladies, Heather.

I've also updated the Shows and Events with some new classes that I'm teaching. I'm really excited to be teaching at Venue in Ballard where my finished pieces are sold. 

Soon we'll be doing more updates. A big 'shout out' to Mr. Woolpets for spending his Sunday sprucing up the site. What a guy!