Saturday, January 26, 2013

Needle Felting!

Here's my first venture into the realm of needle felting! I wanted to begin with something tiny and quick, so I purchased a hedgehog kit from Dimensions.

The kit comes with a foam work surface and two felting needles (as well as an embroidery needle.)

In addition, I bought a Clover Needle Felting tool.

This has five needles in it, all working at once. I figured it would speed up my process. It did, indeed. I also bought a cheap household scrub brush at the dollar store as a work base for the Clover tool.

Starting with loose wool roving (very light and fluffy) needling it down to a good, tight density, I'd say I have about an 8% compression when I squeeze the finished project. (The hedgehog said he does not mind being squeezed!) Not bad for a first try.

I really am after a very tight finished product in my felting adventures. I don't much like the excess fibers sticking out here and there, generally.

Makes me wonder if a needle-felted finished item can then be further manipulated by wet-felting to get those fibers down.

A Fox Stole

I crocheted a fox stole for my 11 yr old daughter Lorna. No pattern. I simply made row after row of big-hook double crochet stitches, reducing for the snout and where the tail meets the 'body' of the stole, and again for the tip of the tail. Foxy features include nose, purchased eyes, ears and four black paws (not pictured.) Lorna loves it! She named him Fettucini :)

Lobster details

This was what I sent for Rachel to include in the Alice in Wonderland themed art book. Alice's tears are paste-paper I made in my favorite tint of Public Pool. The lobster origami was quite a feat as I wanted a thick paper, yet those cannot hold up to too much folding. After tearing a few, I managed to get one to hang on to his own shell through the process. He got a sugary glow from Perfect Pearls and was then off in the mail to beat the deadline by mere minutes!!

Lobster Quadrille - November 2012

In November, I had lobsters on the brain (just like any normal mermaid would.) But this time at the behest of my friend Rachel Shreck, as she compiled an art book based on Alice in Wonderland. It was a gift for her husband at Christmas. Can you imagine being the happy recipient of a massive book - each page an original work by a dear friend?! Variations on a theme. I had to go with the Lobster :)
I like photography very much. I don't consider myself a photographer, but I do think I have an eye for it. So, here you get a chance to see what I saw in a moment, shot with my phone and filtered through the foibles of all concerned. My friend Rachel Shreck has been a huge encouragement to me in this realm. <3

Project updates

I'll be posting a selection of photos that cover the last several years of my projects.

Five Years Later...

I''m very excited to have reclaimed my old blog! Over the weekend, I will edit, update, dust-off and celebrate! I hope you'll join me!