Karens Felt Works

Making a purse

2012-02-02T19:22:00.000+11:00

Well i tried my hand again at making a little purse. I used BFL for the main background then added in threads, silks, merino/silks and rainbow nylon. Its a bit thin in spots ( i still cant seem to get it nice and even) and i did only use 2 layers to this as was small

So i have a couple of problems, or questions really

Sorry this could be a bit long winded

My first problem is in the layout, i cut a resist of bubble wrap and started on the back. I know a lot of people use resists and then cut the felt later to open it up , i'm wondering if that might be easier ?
i know its a bit fluffy but this is the back of the purse , the resist is underneath and cut at the top to create a curved flap and its here im already thinking, if i get this back how i like it and then turn it over , the fibres from the front are going to wrap around and sit on top of these fibres here, right, so if this was perfectly how i wanted it right now at this stage , how do you get around that.

So the back is now wet and had a little rub, i actually love how this is turning out though !

I've turned it over and added the fibre to the bottom half, on top of the resist ( didnt think to take a pic first) and started just lightly rubbing to hold in place, then of course its lots more rubbing and a few rolls and more rubbing rubbing & rubbing, i was a little scared to roll to much as thats when it really started to shrink up and go a bit wonky, i was stopping a lot and reshaping but the opening length always goes a little wonky and the corners are never right

The top corner bits from the underneath never seem to get super strong

and i had to add more fibres to this side to, to hide the fact that the fibres from the back wrap around to this side and you could see the difference, although slight, in how it was placed. Can you tell why i wanted to make a smaaaaalllllll purse lol

So this is inside ( of course)

And this is the back with the front folded down. I'd like to line it with something nice and add lots of stitches and beads and maybe use it for a make up purse or put it away and never touch it again lol

I will finish it to see how looks all lined and embellish but i just wanted other opinions on how to get all of the above perfect !!!!

I'll have to keep practising as i really would love to make myself and nice big bag, but if i cant get something this small right then, what hope have i got haha Its back to the felting board !!

A Hot Sunday Afternoon !!

2012-01-29T17:06:00.000+11:00

Hi Everyone,
Its a gorgeous day today, bit hot outside so i thought i'd stay in and do some felting today. First after checking out our Studio site i found that Ruth had put up the Felting Around the Web Post. She always seems to find some really great links so i thought before i start felting i'd have a go at making some Skeleton Leaves
http://feltingandfiberstudio.com/

What a joke, i used mainly gum leaves and few others i found and after simmering away in the solution for nearly 2 hours this is what i ended up with. No skeletons in there lol nothing i did would take off the outter green leafy bits and the whole pot just went to absolute mud. Smelt like rotten peas to lol
Anyway i did have some fun watching and seeing what or if anything would happen and took some lovely pics for you to see haha

This is after almost 2 hours of simmering away, it was a thick slushy mess

Still leaves, and not even soft enough to strip away the green outter layer, in fact as they cooled down they became as stiff as a board lol Dont think i'll be trying that again and now i have to clean that pot lol

While waiting for that to do what it was suppose to do i layed out some more fibres to make another sheet of felt. I used BFL with lots of threads, silks, organza, and rainbow nylon. Some of the organza didnt really want to felt in but i'll stitch that down when i decide what i'm doing with it

Before Felting

After Felting , it has a nice sheen with the nylon

Happy Felting xo

Felting with Nylon

2012-01-21T00:56:00.002+11:00

I've been playing with some different fibres to see what i can do, Were were talking on the forum about shredding sari silk yarn or ribbon so this is what i did.
The base is 2 layers of BFL liecester and then on top i added lots of bits of shredded up sari silk ribbon, then shredded or peeled layers of organza yarn, which ended up a bit like silk waste and then topped it off with some rainbow Triloban Nylon top, that the lovely Zed sent me, Its like Angelina but really lovely and soft. Its still wet when i took the pics and it seems to have gone a bit dull but i'm hoping once its dry it will pop again. I really like the colors all together and i might turn this into another journal cover.

Before Felting

After Felting, but still wet, yes i'm impatient lol

Now that its dry and it does have a gorgeous sheen to it. sorry you cant see in the pic

Week 2 of TAST !

2012-01-14T12:59:00.000+11:00

I've just finished my week 2 of TAST (Take a Stitch Tuesday) this week was the Buttonhole stitch, I'm really loving this and now i have another page for my Stitches Book :)

Our first Giveaway for our new site is almost over with the winner drawn tomorrow night, We have had an impressive number of entries for this and some really lovely comments , Thankyou you all so much. Its not to late to enter so follow the link to add your name,

http://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2012/01/08/our-first-giveaway/

Happy Days Everyone :)

Our First Giveaway

2012-01-09T18:39:00.001+11:00

We've decided to have our first Giveaway in celebration of our new Felting and Fiber Studio

For more information and a chance to win,

please follow the link and leave a comment over at our site :)

http://feltingandfiberstudio.com/

Take a Stitch Tuesday

2012-01-05T12:00:00.001+11:00

or TAST from Sharon B's Pin Tangle site, which is learning a new stitch every week ,so this is the latest project we'll be working on and hopefully get through every single week of it
I've decided to make mine using a square frame and calico, i'll do random stitches in the square until i'm comfortable with that stitch and then at the end of the 52 weeks i'd like to make my squares into my own book of stitches, not sure how i'll do that yet and there's no hurry as we still have 51 weeks to go.

This is the first one, a Fly Stitch

You can see where i started, on the left lol and got a bit more adventurous as i moved across, i had to add some french knots, there's not many stitches that i know but i can make a frenchy lol I thoroughly enjoyed doing this and it'll be a great reference point to keep going back to. I'm looking forward to next weeks stitch. If you click on the pic it will enlarge so you can see the stitches better !!
If you'd like to join in then please just follow the link below to Sharon's site
Happy Stitching xo

http://www.pintangle.com/journal/2012/1/3/take-a-stitch-tuesday-week-1.html

Simply Amazing

2012-01-04T15:01:00.000+11:00

Well it finally happened, We became Nana and Pop yesterday afternoon, WooooHoooooo

Here is Little Charlie weighing in at 6lb 4oz's and the most devine little thing ever , My son Sean is over the moon and just cant believe he's a Dad. Mum Kelly doing very well and cant keep the smile from her face.

How Gorgeous

Daddy's got you Charlie Girl !!! He cant take his eyes off her and its so gorgeous :)

WIP Album Cover

2012-01-01T18:15:00.001+11:00

Hello bloggerets and now we have another year over and a new one starting, I hope to be able to create much more felting and fibery fluffiness in 2012. In the last couple of months i have finally discovered that Mixed Media is my thing. Yeahhhh i cant believe that it took me so long to work out lol

So now for my latest project which was going to be a baby album cover but i dont thinks its as suitable as planned so im just continueing with it for a normal album cover and i'll lay out some more suitable fibres for the baby album. This is all i've managed so far, not much i know ( with Christmas and stuff) and i dont think i could have picked a brighter color bead than orange lol The next row of beads will probably be green (bright) or maybe purple and i'll add lots more stitches with brighter threads and different beads to go with.

I also think i picked the wrong color thread for what i've done so far, but its all good practise anyway so i'm not really worried and i'll just keep going and see how it turns out !

So for now Happy Felting Everyone and Happy New Year !!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2011-12-24T19:43:00.000+11:00

Wishing all my blogging and fibre friends a Fantastic Christmas and an Inspirational 2012
Thankyou for being part of my life , for sharing, caring and being wonderfully supportive. May your next year be filled with fibrelishes goodies and your creativity flows free :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!!!

Mixed Media Stuff

2011-12-14T16:25:00.001+11:00

I've just finished this small mixed media wall hanging and i'm really liking it. I started out with a flat piece that i cut into different sizes, adding lots of stitching and beads and a hand made fimo button in the centre, i then mounted it onto a book cover that i gesso's, painted and repainted with shiva stixs, I like using them although they do take a while to dry being oil paints in a stick, amazing things

I also once again tried my hand at textile beads , using tyvek, metallic threads and some gorgeous decorative plastic strips zed sent me. A lot of fun but fiddly little buggers lol

Happy Felting

Dying Fibre

2011-12-13T16:21:00.002+11:00

We've been talking alot lately about dying fibre with all sorts of different dyes , so i've added a food color dying tutorial to our site as well. Its easy and fun and you can produce so many different colors with food coloring and a steamer
http://feltingandfiberstudio.com/

Happy Felting xo

Lots Happening

2011-12-06T09:34:00.001+11:00

Hi Everyone
Well there's lots happening over at our new site , we've started a new Feature called Market Place Monday, it will be a regular feature on most Mondays . If you are interested in topics about the business of being an artist, make sure to stop by each Monday. We will be discussing issues such as developing a product line, reviews of various venues where handcrafted work can be sold, pricing strategies, retail vs. wholesale, working with galleries, photographing your work, developing your “brand”, writing an artist statement and much more. If there is a specific topic that you would like more information about, please leave a comment and we’ll try to accommodate your requests. Please check out the whole post by following this link
http://feltingandfiberstudio.com/

Were also really excited to have created an interactive forum for all things wool so if you'd like to become a member ( free) then follow this link to register and join in some wonderful conversations, share knowledge or just chat with likeminded soles. the forum is related to all things wool, felt, yarn, knitting, nuno, needle felting, wet felting ect so come along and have some fun. We have decided to keep this forum private for the time being so you will have to register to view and interact, it just feels the safer thing to do right now :)

http://feltandfiberstudio.proboards.com/

Cheers Everyone and Happy Felting xo

Challenge at the Studio

2011-11-29T00:04:00.001+11:00

Hi Everyone
Over at our new site we will be adding a Studio Challenge every quarter, this is just for fun and the first one is a challenge on creating any Twist's Twirls or Spiral to add texture to Felt
This could be anything including Coiled or Twisted Wool in Felt or a Mixed Media piece
Check out the link and come have some fun http://feltingandfiberstudio.com/ we'd really love to see you there and see what everyone comes up with :)

We did have a bit of heads up with first one lol but here's a bit of what i've made for this

Happy Felting

Something Amazing

2011-11-21T13:44:00.001+11:00

Hi Everyone, well i can now let you know what we've really been up to lately.

I'm so excited to announce that myself and 3 of my Felting Friends from different parts of the world have joined forces to created an amazing new site . We went live this morning and although we had some stressful times , its been so much fun working with these 3 great ladies. So Ruth ( from the US) , Zed (from the UK) , Ann (from Canada) and me Karen (from Australia) have created the Felting and Fibre Studio
http://feltingandfiberstudio.com/
We'll be doing studio challenges, tutorial based challenges and putting up lots of information on different fibre arts projects, mixed media, nuno, wet felting, needle felting, or learning about different fibres for different projects
We would love you to come along and join in the fun, feel free to leave a comment or follow along with us
Happy Felting xo

What i've been up to :)

2011-11-19T17:46:00.001+11:00

I know im a bad blogger sometimes but i promise i'm not sitting idle !!

This one started out as a flat felt piece and i didnt really like it so turned it into a book cover. Im still going to add something for the binding, a tassle or something twisted, its just not quite finished.

This is a mixed media small wall hanging using felt ( of course) beads and stitching and then i mounted it onto a background from an old hard back book which i added gesso, paint and used shiva sticks. I really like the way it turned out and definitely going to do more !

A little piece of the next one and basically just playing with my camera ha

Next post will be a huge announcement and i cant wait to tell what i've really been up to, apart from the above . Sorry to be a tease but thought i'd stir and keep you all guessing lol Its Big :):)

Hand Made Beads

2011-11-02T16:29:00.001+11:00

Hi Everyone
Its been a while since i posted anything and i have been busy but not much to show or tell lately
Till now of course, i've seen some gorgeous hand made textile beads lately so i thought i'd give it a go and create some of my own. I do have a fair bit of practising to do but there so much fun to make. I've never used a heat gun before either so that was interesting :)
Anyway this is my very first lot of beads using Tyvek, Angelina and Metalic thread, The bead on the top i thought i'd be clever and wrap it with cling wrap, i'm really surprised at how strong and hard they are, Sorry about the pics i just cant get closer with my camera without it all distorting. Am i on the right track ??

This is my second try, the top row is the first one i killed ( ooops i mean made) and the bottom row is my second attempt. I'm so loving this i need to find out what other sort of things can be added in and how do you stop the need for a third hand lol i guess i'm just not used to working with anything so small.

A Hanging in Progress

2011-10-12T10:50:00.000+11:00

No not a hanging by the neck lol althoughhhhhhhhh !!!

I've made a start on my wall hanging and i still have a long way to go but just showing pics of the work so far with some stitches and beads. I've used back stitch, straight stitch, french knots and thread salad. The thread salad stitch came from a tutorial by Victoria Crowder Payne and i get such a kick out of using it , it still needs more and makes a great grassy area, tree branches or even moss, i love it , I have lots more work to do on in yet but really enjoying seeing it come together

Happy Felting xo

Blogger Problems

2011-10-06T07:40:00.001+11:00

Hi Everyone
I'm still having so many problems replying to comments left on this blog so i just wanted to say thankyou so much to all you lovely people for the awesome comments xoxo

I can reply to some using your email address but if its not in your profile page then i cant do that either ??
Is anyone else still having problems with replying to comments, When i log in i dont check the keep me signed in box and i'm still having trouble. When i do sign in and go to (view my page) its still telling me to sign in . Sooooo frustrating , any help would be very much appreciated

karen xo

More from me again ( all in one day) ha

2011-10-05T15:28:00.002+11:00

I did say it was a beautiful day and it really got me in the mood for felting. This is the second one today and i love making these pictures, I do need to order more brightly colored fibre though as my stash is running low.

Before Felting

After Felting, i had a hard time felting this one as it just didnt want to stay put so i have a bit of adjusting and needling to do.

I'll be adding lots of beads and embroidery and hope to make it pop !!!

Making a Start

2011-10-05T11:58:00.000+11:00

Well i did say it was a beautiful morning here and i couldnt wait to make a start, so i'm hopeful that this will turn out how i have it in my mind lol always a worry haha

All layed out and ready to roll ! Merino, silk, merino /silk blend, angelina and touch of throwsters waste

After 1000 rolls and some bashing around the sink , not sure i should keep going as the top right edge is still a bit thick ? Its outside drying right now so i'll see what happens. I will cut a piece from this anyway . I like the colors so hopefully it will be ok for boy or girl album !!

Happy Felting xo

Hello Hello !!!!

2011-10-05T10:22:00.000+11:00

Well Hello everyone, i know its been a while again but i've been a bit stuck and the idea's were just not flowing, well actually they were but getting started was the problem. Not sure why that happens and its very frustrating to say the least , so here i am again and on this beautiful sunny morning ( and my day off work) i've been totally inspired so i'm about to lay out some fibres and have a play.
My inspiration today come from this lady http://robruhn.blogspot.com/ as i just love her work, love the colors and textures, Thankyou Ro. What i would like to make is a felt and embellished photo album cover for my Daughter In Laws mum. Were both about to be first time Nana's ( so exciting) in around 11 weeks. Jill ( the other nana) is a gorgeous woman and i do know she likes what i make so i'm sure however it turns out she'll treasure it. When My son married her Daughter i gave her my favorite piece ( actually she nagged and nagged to buy it) lol as a token of our joining families, Its sits in pride of place in her home and she loves it . This was the piece i gave her.

Now i really want to make an album cover dedicated to her (our) first grandchild, with embroidery and beads, color and texture , something simple but elegant and my problem is i dont know if i can do elegant lol I've been thinking about it for ages and instead of getting stuck in i've just procrastinated to no end, i get nervous and that frustrates the heck out of me lol

So anyway thanks to Ro i'm going to tackle it and i'll let you know how i go

Something else that made me excited this morning was one of my Etsy pieces made a treasury list, I'm not really sure what that is lol but i liked it anyway so thankyou for that to, its spurring me on

Ok Happy Felting Everyone !!

My Latest Play Time

2011-08-11T14:55:00.000+10:00

Some more Fibre Collages,
Zed sent me some more gorgeous material so i had to use it in this first one, the flowers and stems are using that, lots of beads, embroidery, thread salad, french knots, straight stitch and whatever else i could get on lol The background is a piece of wet felt i made and wrapped in a material border. I actually like it !!!

This second one was mainly practising my lazy daisy stitch with beads on wet felt and then the bottom right hand corner is Victoria's Paynes cut french knots made to look like grass, Thankyou Victoria i was just proving that i watch lol , I actually ran out of that green thread so its only in the corner . The stems are using twisted embroidery ribbon and some straight stiches for the leaves. This one is only postcard size but still good practise

Happy Felting and Stitching :)

Fibre Collage

2011-08-01T09:54:00.001+10:00

Hi Everyone
I seem to be going off in another direction now and i'm in my element !!
I've been doing a Fibre Collage Course with Susan Sorrell and i've had so much fun lately with felt, material, embroidery and beads. Zed (feltbyzed) sent me some gorgeous material that i stitched over and i practised my straight stitch,blanket stitch,back stitch and Victoria Crowder Paynes thread salad. i love it
This is what i've made and my daughter (15) loved it so i added some fishy kiss's ( kisses) just for her. I'll put it on a board background so she can hang it in her room.
The background on this is a felt piece i made for it although the course was using a material sandwich, this is what i wanted to do. Using felt , embroidery and beads is for me so i finally found my thing !!
Cant wait to start another course soon, i havent finished with this yet but just wanted to share anyway

Happy Felting & Stitching

Chronicle of !!!!!

2011-07-31T01:10:00.001+10:00

No not Narnia !!!!! the chronicles of Sinister Stitch by the lovely Victoria Crowder Payne, depicting 13 poisons from the garden that she is representing in stitch. I'm totally hooked on this woman's work and i didnt realise until recently that i love to stitch. I also love to felt, and i need and want to learn to incorporate both together. I was totally surprised and soooo happy when Victoria put up the second episode called Effection and Applause and i saw she added my work to her site, Thankyou so much Victoria, after the month i've had it was so nice to see and lifted my spirits immensely , If anyone would like to view her work and make a pledge to her cause ( i'm very happy i did) then please take a look at this link.

http://freedomofstitch.com/?p=3570

So now on to why i havent been around for quite a few weeks and sorry if this is long winded .
Stress is a bitch !!! Worry does damage !!! and sometimes its all for nothing.
About 4 weeks ago i had to go to the doctors and she found a lump in my breast. So then off to have a mammogram and ultrasound, NOTHING showed up in the mammogram but the ultrasound showed a definite lump. Left breast , 2.00oclock 6cm. ! So then it was off to our breast clinic to see a specialist and have a biopsy, yuk. The specialist told me ( before the biopsy results came back) that i had Breast Cancer but we'll still wait and see the results of the biopsy. I asked him why he could tell me that now instead of waiting and he said because this is all i do and this is what i know, ok. I had to tell my family ( my boys and girl ) my husband what he said ( hard work) but that it was also very small and very early so all should be well. I went back the other day for the results and it seems now that there is only 10% chance of me having cancer. I can tell you the relief was huge, It's definitely not a cyst and the Doctors wants it out. (me to) . He said taking a biospy on something so small is hit and miss and he still believes that it will be cancer BUT so early and so small thats its easy fixed. Do i have to tell anyone the HUGE relief i felt coming out of there, To be told you have Breast Cancer and then told you dont but the Doctor is still not convinced is frustrating to say the least.. I'm waiting to be called up for surgery and then we'll know for sure but as far as i'm concerned, its better out than in.
So my mind hasnt exactly been on the right path , and i did let myself go to a very dark place for a couple of days , not a nice thing, but now no matter what the outcome i'm happy with knowing that ALL WILL BE WELL and i'm not going anywhere lol . Plus i have a new grandchild on the way ( first one) so where bursting with excitement for his /her arrival around the 28th of December.
So thats been my last month or so and now apart from surgery coming up, i'm putting it behind me and i'm moving on to bigger, better and brighter things.
Happy Felting or Stitching and please do whatever makes you happy. I definitely will be !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
xoxoxoxo

Another Wet Felted Wall Hanging

2011-07-07T15:18:00.001+10:00

Here's another one from me, i'm definitely hooked on this and i found Victoria Payne and her site Freedom of Stitch and wow i'm even more hooked now. http://freedomofstitch.com/?page_id=958. She does some amazing work, anyway this is my new one with one of her stitches, i still have so much to learn i wish i had have learnt to embroider when my Aunty tried to teach me a lifetime ago lol

This is using merino from Stefknits on Etsy, its her cupcake line and i love using this, so easy and awesome colors,, I've also added in some silk and then me practising some stitches !

Close up of stitches and with Victoria's Salad stitch sprinkled down the bottom, secured with some black french knots. I might have to add some more of this as i love it

I tried to do an embroidered leave on one of the flowers but didnt work out so well, just more to practise and i'm happy with that :)

Happy Felting :))

My Little Flower Garden !

2011-06-29T09:30:00.003+10:00

This one is using my own dyed and blended fibre batt, wet felting the background, flowers and leaves and then adding some stitches and beads. I'm so in love with these i think i've finally found my thing lol

I'm getting quite a pile up and now trying to find a way to hang them that i like, what do you think of this, i like the more rustic look but i'm just not sure, I may even put a couple on Etsy and see how i go. Pricing is another issue though as i usually give everything away lol I want more wool though to feed this addiction lol

Or this one, i think without all the yarn is better??

Happy Felting !!

First Beading Attempt

2011-06-26T14:43:00.000+10:00

So this is my first beading attempt over a wet felted background of flowers, i really love all the embelishing i see and decided to have a go. I'm just about to start an online course with Susan Sorrell on fibre collage and thats starts on the 5th of July, Of course i couldnt wait and at least had to have a play with some beads. It's only a little piece about 6in wide and i know its a little wonky on one side lol but i love it anyway. I'll keep playing till my course starts cause i'm having heaps of fun

Happy Felting !!

I'm not sick of them yet lol

2011-06-23T14:26:00.000+10:00

So more wall hangings from me, i cant seem to stop at the moment , anyone would think that i have no work or house-work or family to take care of lol
This one is re-worked from the last time with some added leaves and stems that were wet felted, much better

I really like the colors in this one and now i have to learn how to add embelishments properly with some nice beads and things The flower and leaves were made seperately and then stitched on.

Hope i'm not boring anyone but i cant see myself stopping anytime soon hehehe although my daughter says i really need to learn different flowers and not just swirls, it will happen !!!

Happy Felting xo

Another one, I think i'm hooked

2011-06-21T14:43:00.001+10:00

Sorry if these get boring but i think i'm hooked, This one i tried to do something different and i dont think its worked, i might take the white flowers off and do something else but my daughter likes them and told me to leave them on, there just some pre-felt i had that i cut into circles and then added a bullion stitch (or 2) in the middle of each one, i was trying to go for a cluster. ? i'll think about it for a while first before i get the scissors out lol

And i'm still having trouble answering any comments when i'm at home, so thankyou Gina, yes get that book out hehehe Happy Felting !!

Another Wet Felted Wall Hanging

2011-06-20T13:42:00.000+10:00

I think i've finally found what i really love to do, and all the time to lol Wet Felted Background with the base being Gotland fibre, then lots of different fibres including, merino, merino silk, silk, silk waste, wool neps, different threads to including gold sparkle, Doesnt really show up in the pic but there is a fair bit of sparkle to this. I'm still learning different embroidery stitches, i know 3 now thankyou youtube lol were would we be without it !!!!

Happy Felting

2011-06-17T16:47:00.001+10:00

Yeahhhh i finally found some time to do some felting, These projects are from the e-book i purchased from Rosiepink, Creating Felt Art, Its a fantastic little book and for a beginner in wet felted wall hangings it was so easy to understand just what i wanted, i really love it.
This one was my first practise one, just to get the feel of what i was trying to do. Everything is wet felted and then i've added some hand stitching in place. Just a ladder and running stitch till i learn more stitches, better get on youtube lol But i really loved the whole process and i'd forgotten how much i loved all the hand stitching bits.

The second one i was a bit more careful with the placement of everything and although i still have a long way to go i'm thoroughly loving the whole thing. I've used some different fibres such as , merino, merino silk, silk, throwsters waste, nepps and my yarn and i love this one :)

I'm off to work on my third one now so Happy Felting :))

This is a link to Rosiepink's site for a copy of the e-book if anyone would like it. For some reason i cant reply to my comments at the moment ? not sure what's happening there :)

http://rosiepink.typepad.co.uk/rosiepink/2011/04/creating-felt-artwork-ebook.html

so thankyou Mattie xo

Oh No not again

2011-05-29T13:23:00.000+10:00

OMG another month has gone by and still no blogging from me, I am busy i swear lol Im hoping to start a new project this week from an e-book i purchased by RosiePink Textiles called CreatingFeltArt and i cant wait to have a go. The book looks so gorgeous and i've read, read and re-read it quite a few times, waiting to start. I usually only do needle felting but i'm being swayed so much lately by all the FAB wet felting out there that i might just have to jump the fence and become a wet felter, hehehehe. Zed that should make you happy lol
Anyway hope everyone is well and working hard on your own masterpieces,
i'll be back lol

OOO Baby Baby

2011-04-30T09:27:00.000+10:00

I know i havent blogged for a couple of weeks but i'm so excited now, My Gorgeous boy and is beautiful wife of a year and a half have just found out their having a baby. I'M GOING TO BE A NANA lol and i cant wait. It seems a long time coming, they've been together for 10years now and married last year and their soooo ready to be parents. they'll make the best Mummy and Daddy ever, or is that just me being biased lol The whole family ( both sides) are over the moon and its our first Grandchild ( on both sides to) so you can imagine how happy us 2 nana's are :) Bring on Christmas , she's due on the 28th of December, i'm sure it will fly by, hope so anyway lol

AND THE CIRCLE BEGINS
cheers Nana Kaz xo

My Happy Little Needle Felted Troll

2011-03-31T10:01:00.000+11:00

Hi everyone
Meet my new Happy Little Needle Felted Troll, He's made using my merino x lambswool fibre and his coat is merino tops from stefknits on Etsy her cupcake range, love it. This guy makes me laugh, he's always so friendly and happy and now i need to make him a girlfriend, I really love the way he turned out and i think i might keep to this theme for a while. He's my favorite already and he even stands all my himself

NEEDLE FELTED J.W

2011-03-29T10:24:00.000+11:00

Hi everyone
Just finished my new Character Li'l John Wayne, my hubby has been nagging me to make him for ages. He's all needle felted using my fleece and his vest and neckerchief if pre-felt from Kay and Patti . I'm so happy with the way he turned out, i love him :)

Happy Felting

WooHoo

2011-03-26T10:12:00.001+11:00

Zed made my banner for me and i love it. It will get changed again soon for my new character to be added in.
I managed to get the facebook banner on here to , Thankyou Kay for making that for me. I just need someone to check and see where it goes. When i click on it then it goes to my get started page instead of the wall page and i'm hoping thats just because i set it up and when anyone else clicks on it hopefully it will go straight to the wall page. Could someone pleeeeeeeease just click and tell me where it goes lol Ahhh i'm getting there.

Thankyou Ladies, its all working properly lol i actually did something right lol

New Stuff

2011-03-25T19:25:00.000+11:00

Hi everyone
Please excuse my banner at the moment, zed is helping me make a new one and were just getting the sizing and pics how i'd like them. i'm loving it so far though

I've also just created a new page on facebook just for our Felt Creations
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Felting-Fun/112565655490638?sk=wall

If you'd like to share your Beautiful work then please feel free to upload some pic's there and have some fun. I just hope i've done the whole thing properly lol

I'm still trying to work out how to put the link to the new facebook page on this blog arggg i get so frustrated that i'm not very literate with these computers yet lol I'm determined to learn though lol

Another Wool Dying Day

2011-03-10T14:12:00.001+11:00

Hi Everyone
I managed to get in some wool dying yesterday, i was hoping to have this all carded by now but while it was outside in the sunshine i got stuck into some felting and of course i didnt realise the rain came down while i was inside, i didnt hear it either i was engrossed in felting lol oh hopefully i'll get this carded over the weekend.

I'm also out of core fleece so i've washed some of that with more washing now. The fleece that i dyed is from Baby merino cross and they were such babies to. very short fibre but it'll be perfect for needle felting and here's hoping i can get it all through the carding machine.
Happy Felting xoxo

I'm a little Teapot

2011-03-09T11:49:00.000+11:00

You have to sing this , ready, GO
I'm a little teapot
Short and Stout
Here is my Handle
Here is my Spout
When i get all steamed up
Here me Shout
Tip me over and pour me out lol

I have a small collection of teapots and this one is a replica of one my friend found for me

I'm really on a whimsical roll, i have to get back into some serious felting lol

Yeah i found my other Shoe

2011-03-03T14:54:00.000+11:00

Hope everyone is well and having fun :)

This is another Needle Felted Shoe House i made, its similar to the last one i know but i'm just practising and having fun. I use my yarn for the laces but i think its a little thick, i also used some of my coil yarn chopped for the flowers in the window and the pot plant. My next one i've started is completely different and i'm just lovin this

Happy Felting

Meet Patrik! to be sure, to be sure

2011-02-23T16:33:00.000+11:00

Hi everyone, Well i've had so much fun making this Character, he wasnt supposed to turn out like an Irish Dude but i'm not complaining, I really like him although i kinda think he drinks to much lol He's all Needle Felted and i will change his clothes to something similar, i'm waiting on my order for some pre-felts that i wanted to try from Kay & Patti so when they arrive i'll keep playing. So anyway Meet Patrik , my Irish Beer Lovin Mate lol

Happy Felting Everyone

Needle Felted House

2011-02-14T17:53:00.000+11:00

So ok this is something different for me, Not really sure if i like it but i'll keep going.

I love the story of the old woman who lived in a shoe so maybe a different kind of shoe is needed. I enjoyed making it but now i have this whole other idea for another shoe, first i need to order some felt squares from Patti though for the next one!!

I really love Fantasy so as i'm thinking more and more of what to do maybe i could get into something more in a Fairy Tale kinda way . mmmmmmmmmmm thats perking my interest lol
Happy Felting xo

Questions for you

2011-02-14T13:11:00.000+11:00

Hi Everyone
I just have a question for you, this might sound a silly question but its been bugging me big time,
i was wondering how you all found your thing lol I'm just getting back into felting and i love just about everything i see and think ooooo i'd love to try this or that but what i really need to do is to find MY THING and i dont know how to do that !! Its so frustrating, i learnt to make sculptured dolls and although i love them i dont want to make them all the time. I'm trying to work out in my own head what i'd really love to do and its an empty space lol Some of the felted thing i see just blow me away, i get so inspired to create something but its usually something i've seen first and not my idea. I seem to be getting more angry then creative so does anyone have any idea's of how i dig in and find my niche ?????
You all must have started somewhere, like Kasey and her amazing Goblins, Barby and her mice, Kay and her dolls.
How did you know what you wanted to make ?????

WannaBeeBaby

2011-02-12T14:14:00.001+11:00

Hi Everyone, been having fun making these Wanna Bee's , this time a smaller one so he's a wannabeebaby lol I'll have a change now though and make something else

There fun to make, i did have trouble with his wings though, dont really like sewing so used my glue gun, think next time i'll have to sew !!

WannaBee for me

2011-02-10T15:27:00.001+11:00

Oh boy i know its been so long since i've been on here and i'm sorry about ignoring all my felting friends. Weve had lots of things happening on the family front thats taken me away from all my crafting fun. All is very good now though so i'm trying to get back into the swing of things. I've missed everyone so much that i feel kinda funny at coming back in here and starting again. I hope you can all understand that sometimes we have to do what we have to do !!!

BeeCareful

So anyway this is the first little guy i've made for what seems like a lifetime and i so enjoyed every minute of making him. He's a little WannaBee from the latest FELT magazine that Jenny Romano put up as a tutorial and i just couldnt resist. She looks a little worried but i think thats just me right me now lol So the next one will have a happier smile on her face. She's all needle felted and has wire attached for her legs, and i just realised that i forgot to put her antenna on but i did add a flower to her hat
Happy Felting Everyone

Come Here My Pretty

2010-10-17T10:09:00.000+11:00

Well its been a long time since i've managed to do any Needle Felting. I started a Santa then realised that i'd run out of Red and Black so while i'm waiting for my order from Patti (DreamFelt) i decided to have a play and make a Witch, I had so much fun. She's made using Merino x , her hair is Merino Roving's and her Nails are a prefelt i had,

She's a bit Freaky, But i Love Her lol

Wet Felted Cuffs

2010-09-16T16:06:00.000+10:00

I thought instead of trying to make something big i really should start with something a bit smaller, so i made these little wet felted cuffs and flowers. I loved making them and definitely be making more. They all have press stud closures with either flowers or buttons on the top but not sure what to put on the green on yet.

Happy Felting xo

Yes another Wet Felted Bag !!!!

2010-09-13T15:38:00.001+10:00

OOO i get kind off obssessed occasionally and have to keep making the same sort of thing lol So anyway lol here's another small Wet Felted Bag. This one is using my merino x batt that was blended with sari silk and i put a whole silk hankie through the Batt. I really liked it so thought i'd see how it went. I think i'm getting better with the opening as this one is much neater and stronger. I added a little wooden button but it also has a press stud closure, Dont like doing button holes lol

Happy Felting Everyone xoxo

Maybe a little Adventurous for Me !

2010-09-11T17:35:00.001+10:00

I am on L-Plates after all in the Wet Felting Stage
Ok i had to try again and make another bag, i'm kinda fixated with them now lol I've taken pics of the process i used and not sure i did it the right way but it kinda worked sooooo !!!!
So this is the finished bag, still wet but i really like it. I really wanted 2 different colors and it took me a while to work out how to lol

The handle is a long piece of roving made into a cord and the a tiny slit made through the bag, tis strong

Red on the inside

So i started out laying 2 lots of fibre. 1 for the back and 1 for the front . Didnt know how else to do it lol Then i had to let it sit for 2 days until i had it in my head what i was trying to do lol .

So with the back side of the bag, i wet down and folded the edges over a resist

Neaten them up with more red

and wet down again, i just started to roll the top pointy thing until it was firm enough to hold its shape

Placed the other half on top and wet down , added more green to the sides and turned the edges over to the front , smoothed out

Rub a dub dub, and added some gorgeous silk from Jacinta at Spiral Dyed Downunder, yum

lots of rolling and rubbing for about an hour and then i cheated and put it in the wash for a cycle

Tadahhhhhhhh its not perfect yet but i'm getting there.

Happy Felting Everyone !!

Wet Felted Bag

2010-09-06T14:41:00.001+10:00

This is another bag i started this weekend, it has 4 layers of Gotland Fibre and then the top layer is my dyed merino cross, its really thick which is good. I decided to use wooden handles for this one and it has a press stud closure inside but i am going to line this with some nice material and gift it to a friend of mine. My camera doesnt show it much but it is more chocolately with some copper highlights than it looks !!

What will make it even better is if i could learn how to embellish properly lol

Small Wet Felted Bag

2010-09-06T09:57:00.000+10:00

Ok i'm just trying my hand at another little Bag, this one is using my Gotland Fibre and it was so much easier to felt with than the Polwarth. The sun was actually out this morning to so this was a bit hard to photograph, or is it just me and my camera .. more than likely me lol

I'm enjoying it anyway xo

Wet Felted Cuff

2010-09-01T13:13:00.000+10:00

I really wanted to try the Polwarth again so decided to make something small, This is a cuff using the Natural White Polwarth and a Tussah Silk Top layer. It feel so soft and delicate, I love it.

My Daughter (Shayna) is already fighting me for it lol so i guess i'll have to make some more

Wet Felted Wall Hanging

2010-08-31T13:44:00.000+10:00

I've just finished another Wet Felted Wall Hanging and although i do have to learn how to make different flowers i love it. The Background is my hand dyed and carded merino x , the 2 flowers are merino x with a silk hankie on top. Zed (Felt by zed) sent me some of her gorgeous dyed silk hankies and while ago and i've never wet felted with them till now. I added colored beads to the centre of the flowers. I'm off to try to make some different flowers now lol xoxo

Happy Felting

OMG What a bag lol

2010-08-29T17:06:00.000+10:00

Well this is the first time i've tried to make a wet felted bag. What a laugh. I used Polwarth Fibre and had so much trouble felting it although i think it was me and not the fibre. After about an hour of rolling and rubbing i gave up and threw it in the washing machine and then the dryer. It came out all nice and crinkly of course so i had to iron it lol I could NOT get the handle right so i'll try that bit again but i still had fun and i'll try again using different fleece. What do you think the best fibre is for bag making. I'd really like to be able to make myself and nice big bag but after this practise one i'm not sure i have the patients lol

I'm loving it all though and glad i'm back !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Felted Flower Hanging all finished

2010-08-27T13:58:00.001+10:00

I think i've finished. I had so much fun with this but as i dont usually do wet felting i think i needed to make the background a bit thicker but i'm so happy with it anyway. Now i just need to figure out how to hang it. I've just put in on some black card to take the pic but i think it needs a frame of some sort. any suggestions ??

I've used Merino x , sari silk, i did put some angelina in the centre of the flowers but its so hard to see in this pic. All wet felted seperately and then needle felted together although i did have to put a stitch or 2 in to hold things in place. How does anyone usually combine multiple pieces together. ?

I'm ready for my next one lol

2010-08-26T18:17:00.000+10:00

It seems so long since i've felted anything but this week i've been so inspired by Artist's blogs and flickr and Well just about Everything., I dont usually do much Wet Felting but today i did and loving it. This is my W.I.P and i know i still have a lot to do but thought i'd show and tell since its been ages. Its not the best pic either but you get the idea. OK back to the table i go and its good to be back !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Felting xoxo

Awww Poor Lil Gary

2010-07-27T17:37:00.000+10:00

This is what happens when Ike the puppy goes into my room, He had a ball and poor Lil Gary needs some serious surgery hehehe !!

I came home to find my felting room absolutely trashed from one end to the other lol

He got into bags and lower shelves, i just made a really nice batt but couldnt find it. Part of it is the orange and blue and the rest was outside in the dirt ripped to shreds lol and poor lil gary is a mess
arrggggg puppiesssssssssssssssssss
Dont worry I now have a lock on the door lol

Ahhh Winter Blues

2010-07-01T11:34:00.000+10:00

I'm sorry i havent been here or anywhere for a few weeks now, I dont cope very well in the winter months and i'm having a bad case of the winter blues. Usually i enjoy having the wood fire burning and the house all nice and cosy but this year is already colder than normal and i'm having so much trouble coping with that, and we dont even have snow here, lol i'd be no good in England or anywhere that is cold enough to produce that white fluffy stuff, Gorgeous to look at but not live in lol
I'm trying to snap myself out of this mood and Zed really helped (thankyou zed) by sending me some of her gorgeous coasters for my never ending cups of coffee, i love them zed. Also Tess ( Asset Crafts) on flickr has also just really inspired me with her Gorgeous Fibre Batts, i'm in love with them lol
ahhhhhh somebody slap me out of it, I'm missing far to much lol !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Puppy

2010-06-01T10:16:00.001+10:00

This is our son Chris's new puppy Ike, we've had him for 2 weeks now and this first pic is the first couple of days at 9 weeks old. Came to us fully toilet trained , couldnt believe that and its been great. His gunna be a big Baby, His Father is a Bull Mastiff cross RidgeBack and his Mother is a Bull Mastiff cross Great Dane , Tiny little thing isnt he lol

Now at 11 weeks old

And when he's to pooped to pop lol

Wool Dying Weekend mmmmmmm delish !!!

2010-05-31T16:06:00.000+10:00

Had a really great weekend this weekend and accomplished a fair amount of Fibre dying and carding. I wish i could just stay home and do this everyday, i love it, Why wasnt i born rich hehehe

There's still more Dying and Carding to be done during this week and i do have tomorrow off, No-one home cept me and the puppy , so guess what i'll be doin lol

Blend of the mossy green and orange, love this combo

First lot of Dying,

Any Idea's Anyone lol

2010-05-06T17:02:00.000+10:00

Hi Everyone
I've been trying to figure out why is it that when i'm searching on google for Needle Felting or Art Dolls or anything to do with needle felting nothing of mine show's up. Ive searched all over with all sorts of ways of spelling it but nothing, Yet when i search through Yahoo mine comes up then but only all my early things and nothing from later on. I'm not that worried about it really lol but it does bug me a bit that i can see lots of people's work that i know , just not mine, Am i doing something wrong or is it that google doesnt like me very much. hehehe
Anyway i know this is a silly question but i just thought someone would have some idea"s ????

Cheers Karen

Li'l Needle Felted Benny and the big one.

2010-05-04T18:26:00.003+10:00

Just grabbed the real Ben for a photo shoot when he called in after work on his way home. Made him sit for this pic and he didnt mind at all. We had a good laugh anyway

My Li'l Benny all Needle Felted

2010-05-02T10:13:00.001+10:00

I've had so much fun the last couple of days, i found this pic of my Son Ben when he was about 3 yrs old, he was a pint sized little Dare Devil back then and still is , He's 24 now. I couldnt resist trying to replicate him in felt and although i did have trouble with his eyes i'm still really happy with the way he turned out. He was just getting over 2 huge black eyes back then so you can see a bit of bruising still, i had to put that in. Big Benny's gunna flip when he see's himself immortalized in Felt hehehe. Ahhhh gotta love needle felting
Ok who's next lol

Needle Felted Character Doll

2010-04-26T16:13:00.002+10:00

I've had a great weekend felting away all by myself while the rest of the crew were away for the weekend. Its been so good and soooooo peaceful. Ive had Kay's (kay Petal) online DVD here for a while with not much time to sit and do, so this time i did and i loved it. Managed to finish this Person and i do like her, she still needs some little touch up's but i think i'm done for the day, She's 100% needle felted and made from dyed merino lambswool with my hand spun yarn for her hair. No name as yet i'll have to just look at her for a while. She can stand on her own for about 10sec's lol but if she just rest's her hand on something then she's fine. She stands 12inch tall and she's my smallest one i think. I'm pretty happy with her so far. eeeeeekkkkk family's back, there goes my peace and quiet, i love them but ooooo its been lovely !!!!

Still Going but getting there!

2010-04-24T13:17:00.000+10:00

Ok as you can see i'm still going and trying to change a few things. I think after the last week of sadness and traveling interstate and then coming back home and feeling very BLAHHHHH. I needed a change ,so i'm challenging myself to change this blog, I was getting a bit sick of looking at the same thing and although all i've done is move things from one side to the other lol and added some pages, although thats still not what i was going for i'm starting to feel like i'm getting somewhere.
So now i've put a few things in the pages but no matter what i do i cant get them all lined up properly, not that it really matters butttttt you know what i mean ! I'll add more as i go and try to become a bit more computer savvy i think lol Anyway so tell me what you think, remembering that i needed a change and thats color and everything , had to get away from the black and i'm feeling so much better now !!!

Tribute to my Brother In-Law

2010-04-15T14:34:00.000+10:00

Sorry I have to do this ! We've had such a very sad week, My Brother In-law Darren was tragically killed in a motor bike accident on Sunday night. As you can see bikes were his love after his family. My Little Sister has lost the only Man she has ever loved and 2 gorgeous Nephew's have lost the Best Father anyone could ever want. He did everything with his boys, bike riding, camping, fishing, four wheel driving or just hanging out. I've never met a better Father and At 41 years young he was taken way to early. He will be so very sadly missed

This was taken a couple of years ago but this is how we saw him most times !

His youngest son Mitchell just had a birthday 11, from left Oldest son Alex 13, my sis Kelly, Mitch and Darren

Always in our Hearts Darren and dont worry about your boys, their well looked after and strong like their Dad !!!!

Im crying now and i cant see so this is my Tribute to You !!!!!!!!!

Learning Something New

2010-04-08T18:27:00.002+10:00

Well i suppose most of you very talented artist out there will know all about this but i didnt and its been bugging me. I couldnt for the life of me work out what you would do with Silk Rods , i asked on the forum and they told me but in my own head it just didnt make sense, have you seen those ugly little things ( well you probably have ) lol to me they just made no sense at all. I know that a lot of people use them in there felt works and they do look gorgeous. Well all thats changed now lol i'm happy to say. My friend Zed sent me some to try and i've been looking at them for ages not knowing what to do so yesterday i dyed them the same way i dye everything else and they came out nice but NOW what hehehe. I thought you pulled them apart to make like a roving but that didnt really work so it was suggested that i might have to soak them again to seperate. I'm thinking seperate what ! there so flat but then i put some stronger glasses on lol and i could actually see a semblence of layers, aha i thought so i very slowly tried to peel the layers apart, alot harder than you think, the first effort resulted in a tangled mess and i realised then that this is how they get the throwsters waste, we'll leave that to one side and i just waited for some to dry before another play and wow i started to pull off this fluff, i soon realised that if i wanted more fluff than stringy bits i have to wait till its crispy dry and then just with gentle fingers started to pull at the ends, I love how it comes out so here's some pics to show off.
I should have taken a pic before dying, sorry i didnt think of that !!

Dying the rods

Peeling the layers off, this is still wet

The final yummy fluffy Cloud but it has to be crispy dry to pull it out. otherwise it goes to a waste , i left a layer of the rod there in each color to show you and everyone likes it different so know we can do both.

When your in a hurry to seperate and dont have patients, this is what happen's

Anyway as i said im sure most of you will have know this but not me, so this is my lesson for the day

Happy Felting

On a roll

2010-04-06T18:53:00.001+10:00

This is some Gotland Fibre that i hand dyed and loosely spun and then plyed with a gorgeous bronze metalic thread, I'm into a bit a bling at the moment and this one has lots of sparkle and very soft. She'll be going on Etsy !!

Silk Hankie Batt

2010-04-05T18:59:00.004+10:00

I've been playing with my drum carder today and wanted to make something a bit different, so i started with some merino in different colors and then i added a whole silk hankie all the way through and very slowly , its so sticky but one hankie goes such a long way that i didnt realise how far you can pull them out. I'll definitely use them again. Its given a really nice shine to this batt . I've also listed it on Etsy.

Another Day of Spinning,Dying and Carding

2010-04-04T22:06:00.001+10:00

Had a great day today, i made this nice bling Batt using merino lambswool and silk tops in a gorgeous Autumn Mist color, love how it turned out. I did list this one on Etsy . I actually started ,my etsy shop back up again about 3-4 weeks ago and have yet to sell anything, i know it takes time and i'm starting to wonder weather my wares are just to boring considering some of the amazing fibre batts out there, or do i just have to have more patients lol which i will do .

More spinning using natural white romney fibre then dying in blue and purple, just left as a single at the moment but i might ply it with some nice metalic thread

These are the yarn i've made since i purchased the wheel last week, i do have another hanging to dry and forgot to unclude it in this pic, What to do with them all now lol

You guessed it, more yarn !!

2010-04-03T19:50:00.006+11:00

This is my hand dyed lambswool and i plyed using a gold metalic crochet thread, i tried to be really clever and after a while i took the thread back up on itself to try to create a little nobby bit lol you cant see it to much in the pic but it looks good and i love the color combo to. This could make pretty funky dolls hair for our needle felting ?

I watched a youtube video tutorial on core spinning by Jazzturtlecreations , she is so good at what she does and the video was really easy to follow so i had to try, it took me a while to get the hang of it but i think i did ok. I used a fine crochet cotton as the base and my hand dyed lambswool i was trying to spin up into a textured yarn !!

Second Try at Coils

2010-04-01T16:11:00.005+11:00

Ok here we go again, this is the second try at coils, i'm struggling a bit with over twisting in the base yarn and i think it might be a bit thick, i was just using some bought 4ply for the base and when spinning the coils its very hard to feed through onto the spool. Should i be using a really fine base yarn ??? I'm not giving up though cause i really love coils , maybe i should just learn how to spin properly first. I Always was impatient lol
The coils are spun from Gotland Fibre that i dyed myself.

The rest of the yarn left as a single ply, i really love those colors

First Yarn off the Wheel

2010-03-31T15:56:00.004+11:00

Omg this is the first yarn off my new second hand wheel and i'm probably getting way ahead of myself but i've been dying to try coils cause i think there just gorgeous. So even though this has lots of lumps, bumps and extra fluff (dont ask me how) lol i still love it. I'm trying again now with the second lot and i think its just gunna take lots of practise.
So Exciting !!

I'm a Happy Girl

2010-03-28T12:23:00.004+11:00

I went to a huge market this morning and found this Ashford's Wheel ,I got it for $40.00 which is a bargain and its in perfect condition, so now all i have to do is learn how to use it properly. I'm so excited lol

Its about Time

2010-03-07T14:23:00.003+11:00

Well i thought i better get my butt into gear and list some things on Etsy, havent done that for ages and nearly forgot how lol I'm so not sure about pricing though its the worst thing to do so i hope its all ok, If anyone wants to jump in and let me know then i'd really appreciate that.
cheers all and enjoy your weekend

Sheep King , Needle Felted Farmer Gary

2010-02-26T19:28:00.007+11:00

Our very close friends Gary & Mary are our local sheep farmers in this area and Gary supplies a heck of a lot of my wool and it always amazes him what can be made from his sheeps fleece , When Mary saw my li'l scotty she asked me to make Gary's head, i jumped at the chance to have another go at yet another head and i'm sooooo happy with the way he turned out. I will be making a body for him cause i think our local sheep king really needs one, Li'l Gary is Needle Felted using a single barbed needle

Needle Felted Li'l Scotty

2010-02-20T20:03:00.004+11:00

My son Sean asked me to felt the head of his best mate Scotty to give to him just for fun, I had to have a go and Man did i have fun. Sean thinks its Awesome and cant wait to pass it on. This is only the 2nd time i've worked from a picture and i really love the way he turned out. Big Scotty's gunna get a huge kick out of it and his Lady Love Erina will have something to throw when he's naughty lol
This took me a whole 9 hours of Needle Felting to make because i just couldnt put him down so its lucky i didnt have to make a body for him as well :)

the Real Scotty,

All together now, Needle Felted Heads

2010-02-19T14:03:00.004+11:00

My fun little group of needle felted heads, all except the orange girl will get bodies, heaps of fun lol

Last Head in Needle Felting

2010-02-19T13:15:00.003+11:00

lol Well i couldnt really call him Elvis could i, i'm having so much fun but i think i better stop with the heads already lol He's Needle Felted using a single barbed needle.

Needle Felted Mick & Jolly Roger

2010-02-18T10:13:00.005+11:00

I'm really really loving this guy Mick, i love the expression on his face and i put my hand in so you can see how big he is. I'll definitely be making a body for him but just not sure how he should look yet. He looks like a Mick dont you think lol I didn't want to make an older person but as he was coming out i was lovin him. !! He's all needle felted using a single barbed needle !

I reworked Jolly Roger a bit because i wasnt that happy with him, Now he has a new bigger nose, i've pulled his eyes in a bit more, still maybe need to do more, and straightened up his mouth and chin, He looks a lot better now and probably needs a nice big fat body lol

Cheeky Milly

2010-02-17T10:02:00.003+11:00

I'm trying not to stress so much when felting and making it harder on myself , its supposed to be a fun thing. Well i was having fun making Milly and she's just so colorful. For the first time i didnt actually add eyelids but pulled down the brow instead, Still cant make the eyes smaller but who care's as long as its fun right LOL

Frustration Plus lol

2010-02-16T11:41:00.005+11:00

I started this Character the other night and i hated him. I have this idea in my head for making more human looking characters and they just dont work for me, yet, so ended up squishing him all up and making a whole new face straight on top. I'm liking him a lot better and i think i've come to realise that you have to just let the wool take you were it wants to go and not try to do something else. One day i'll try for that human looking person but for now i'll just try exaggerating some features and see what happens. He still needs some work as he still looks like most of the other characters i've made but I'm moving on lol
not sure i'll make a body for him either, i think i'll just watch him for a while and see if the next one is different.

The Big Day Arrived

2010-02-09T19:02:00.002+11:00

Yeahhhhhh

I know a lot of you would have rolled your eyes as i went on and on about my Son ( Sean's ) upcoming wedding, Well guess what lol Its happened and its all over bar the shouting lol
I know i'm bias but it was the most Beautiful Day ever and all 130 guest's agreed it was the best wedding they had been to. Tears flowed during the service as a poem was read out that was written by Sean, I didnt know he had that in him. It was perfect
Sean has his 2 brothers as Bestman and Groomsman and his Best Mate as another Groomsman
Kelly had her best friend as Maid of Honour and her sister laura and our daughter as Bridemaids. Kelly's sister Laura made the wedding dress by hand . I'm sorry you cant see much detail in these couple of pics but it truly is Stunning. the Bride and Groom are so Happy i just love them to pieces lol

2010-02-08T16:22:00.003+11:00

What a lovely suprise from Tracy (narkeymarkey) who has nominated me for the Sunshine Blog award. Thankyou Tracy you've made my day and its my very first blog award to.

There are some rules to this award if you choose to follow and they are

The sunshine award is awarded to bloggers whose positivity & creativity inspires others in the blog world.
the rules for accepting the sunshine award are: and please feel free to ignore these rules and just enjoy the award!)-
put the logo on your blog or within your post-
pass the award onto 12 bloggers-
link the nominees within your post-
let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog-
share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award

Very Nice

Sunshine blogs for me

Gunknitter
Felt by Zed
Sycamore Moon Studio's

Will be adding more shortly

Happy Australia Day

2010-01-26T20:17:00.003+11:00

Just wishing everyone a very Happy Australia Day, hope you all had a great day with Family and Friends. Lamb on the BBQ and all that lol
I havent posted anything for what seems like ages, I got way to busy before Christmas and then in my 2 week break i ended up crashing with the flu. All better now but still busy and trying to catch up with everything. I also havent done any felting for a while either but today i got out the carder and carded up some nice colorful batts , It felt good to get back into some woolly goodness.
I wont be able to get into to much felting over the next couple of weeks either as its my son's wedding next Sat week , the 6th of Feb so must clean house and get ready for the onslaught of Family and Friends, Were about to have a house full and i cant wait lol
I'll be taking lots of pics for sure and posting some of the Big Day, I'm getting beyond excited and a little nostalgic , we'll he's my first baby and now he's all grown up.
Anyway take care and Happy Felting

LOOK MUM I MADE IT

2009-12-07T14:19:00.002+11:00

Mum i made it and they made me some munchies, I have a cupcake with a lot of frosting , an apple and a banana all ready for me cause i was pretty hungry after all that travel lol
How much fun is this, My Gorgeous Felting Friend from Norway ( Gunn ) Gunnknitter sent me this gorgeous little Erik. He has just arrived and already having so much fun. He's found an awesome friend in Archie and i think there going to be great mates.
Gunn Thankyou so very much, i absolutely adore him and straight away my kids thought he was just the most awesome character, in fact their comments were, oh Wow he is wicked , why dont you make characters like him. hehehe He will be well and truly Loved for ever. Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou xoxoxoxoxoxo

My Boy Archie

2009-11-29T19:31:00.003+11:00

OOOOOO Its been a while since i posted anything, just been so busy lately and now I finally found some time to finish this character, I named him Archie cause i think it suits. He's 100% needle felted using my hand dyed merino fleece. He's not exactly what i had in mind but i'm still pleased with the way he turned out , that darn wool has a life of its own lol :))

One more Flower

2009-11-02T15:33:00.004+11:00

Just finished one more flat needle felted flower, think i'll have a change now as i'm feeling very inspired to make another character after seeing some gorgeous ones on the forum.

Also we were talking about leadlight pictures as Jude has just started learning how to, so i'm just showing her this one that i made a lot of years ago and its the only leadlight piece that i kept. I still couldnt part with this cause its my favorite :))

2009-10-09T14:51:00.002+11:00

OOOOO i'm a little bit addicted to making these, i still need to learn how to make different flowers but i'm loving this right now. Its a bit hard to see but there are 2 layers to the actual flower on this one, should have used slightly different colors to see better.
Anyway not to worry lol This is a background of corriedale , merino in different colors and my yarn for the stem

More Flower Power

2009-10-05T10:31:00.002+11:00

I couldnt help myself, had to make a couple more cause i'm thoroughly enjoying every minute of this so i hope you like them :))

This first one is my first time using a Silk Hankie, its the main flower with some Angelina Fibre in the centre, also some silk waste at the bottom, my coil yarn as the stem.

I wanted to try a raised flower, i'll keep practising that one lol My yarn is the stem double and then doubled again, not sure if its a bit to thick.

Little Garden of Flowers

2009-10-04T13:43:00.003+11:00

I decided to try my hand ,Again, at these little wall hanging. I'm always so inspired by Deb from Deebs Fibre Art, she makes the most gorgeous wool paintings.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/deebsfiberarts/ You can see her here.

I had so much fun and absolutely loved this so plan on making more although i'll have to learn how to make different kinds of flowers.

The first one took me quite a few hours as i pulled it back about 3 times, but now i love it and happy with the way it turned out. The second one took me less time and i'm happy with this to.

There both using a base of charcoal corriedale with merino and gotland fibre of different colors, the first one has angelina in the centre of the flower and the second one has viscose nepps in their centre's. Also the stems are using my yarn's , i really like the coils for the stems in the second one.

FELTUNITED

2009-10-03T12:51:00.002+10:00

As today for us lucky Aussie's is the 3rd of October and International Felt United Day i thought i would gather some of my friends and put them on display. Now i know i didnt make anything especially for this apart from the orange flower , i thought it would be fun to play around and let the neighbours see these funny little things looking at them. We had a bit of a laugh as you can see by the look on there faces, I think they enjoy being outside lol

Were does the time go

2009-10-02T14:00:00.002+10:00

Its been quite a while since i've posted or even accomplished any felting. Supposed to be a quiet time of the year on our little Island but for some reason, not for me. I feel as if i've been busier than ever with no time to do much for myself, oh well i guess thats just life. lol
I did manage to have a couple of free hours the other day and i was determined to make something. Well this might seem such a small thing for the time but i actually made this flower ( at least i got to make something) lol I do have adjust one of the stamens as it looks like a tongue sticking out at me but its been a while since i actually made one so i'm happy non the less. lol
Both the orange and green are prefelts i made first and then cut and put together to create this flower. So far its the only way i know how but as i said its been a while. lol

More Dyed Gotland Fibre

2009-08-27T11:41:00.004+10:00

I'm lovin dyeing this fibre, its so easy to work with, takes the dye really well and spins up lovely. Still using my drop spindle i dont know if i'll ever use a wheel.

This first one i dyed 2 different lots. One in pink and green and the other in purple and pink and then plyed them both together. I really like the way it turned out.

This one was a dark grey natural Gotland that i over dyed in a blue-green and light-green and this is how is came out. A bit darker than i thought but it was pretty dark to begin with so it still took the dye really well.

Romney Fibre

2009-08-20T14:44:00.003+10:00

This is Romney Fibre that i spun up on my drop spindle, in its natural white color and then Dyed in my favorite colors after. That is the first time dying and spinning this way i usually dye first and then spin. Not sure why but i love this romney fleece, its so easy to work with and i love those colors.

Bit of a Yarn

2009-08-19T16:32:00.004+10:00

Its been a while again since the last post, why does life have to get in the way of craft/art lol

I was inspired the other day to do some more spindle spinning by Jude (judelicious) on flickr. She's just learning to and her yarn is gorgeous.

I had to spin some myself to and this is hand washed ,dyed ,carded and spun on a spindle merino x borderleicester multi-colored and plyed with pink merino. I really love the colors and my favorite at the moment is all greens mixed with all pinks. Very old world and gorgeous.

Finally some Needle Felting

2009-07-10T20:42:00.003+10:00

Well its taken a while but i think i'm finally out of my blues. OOOOOOO that was bad lol
Now this week i've been so into needle felting again and its so good, this girl is what came out and i really like her.
She has a core of Merino and her outlayer is Romney, her clothes are my dyed Gotland and her hair is one of the first yarns i spun on my hand spindle. She stand 18inch tall.
I think SKY is a nice name for her, what do you think.

Gotland Fleece

2009-05-19T14:51:00.003+10:00

I just had my order of Gotland Fleece and Romny arrive so had to dye a bit of the Gotland to see how it came out. I'm pretty happy with it although i'm not sure what to do with yet. I might try to spin some up on the spindle and see how it comes out.

FELT AROUND THE WORLD

2009-05-15T15:48:00.002+10:00

Felt - intertwined, bound together, forever as one - United

2009 is the United Nation's International Year of Natural Fibres. On October 3rd, 2009 - feltmakers from around the globe will celebrate by joining together and displaying their felt. It will be the first annual International Felt Day.

Please follow this link to find out more and join in on the day, either with a group or by yourself

Lets get felting out there

http://www.feltunited.com/

Thankyou
http://www.elisv.nl/

Using a Diz

2009-04-25T16:16:00.006+10:00

I've been trying to learn how to use a Diz to make rovings from my Drum Carder, i was having a bit of trouble so Ann from Shepherds Spring Farm sent me a small video to help out. Thankyou so much Ann you make it look so easy and now maybe my Bi-ceps wont get some much of a workout. lol
I've added it here so i hope it works

Ann gives a brief explaination here. Thankyou Ann
If it gets to hard to pull through the hole you have too much wool. Pull the diz up the wool and split the wool on the underside. You were probably moving across the drum to fast. The thicker the wool on the drum the slower you have to move across. The staple length will determine how far you can pull before you have go move your hand back down to grab the wool next to the diz. If you can manage to give it a twist while you are pulling you can pull longer, twist gives strength.