I’ve been very slow at showing these felt pictures but they really are too good to hide. It was a small class last week and I didn’t get a photo of all the felts but the two landscapes by Margaret and Judith are inspiring.
Take a look at what’s been produced at other workshops. I can’t wait to see what the slipper lot make tomorrow!
I enjoyed carding the fibres so much yesterday that I was inspired to use some of them for pictures. The boat picture is made entirely of carded fibres and I’m quite pleased with the result. In the centre is the vibrant, orange, pink and red fibres to which I’ve added some orange circles. It’s my intention to embroider onto this a little.
At the end is the fibres which to me looked so like a picture that I have indeed turned it into an abstract piece. I thnk I’ll probably stitch into this one too. Next week I hope to show you a 3D piece I’m working on which will also be made from carded fibres. So much you can do with leftover fibre!
Sometimes you end up with some fibres which have begun to felt and are difficult to pull for laying out. These and ends of colours I put into my bit bag. I use the bit bag when I’m looking for tiny amounts of a specific colour and for making felt beads. When I make the felt beads from these leftovers I cut the fibres into one inch lengths and mix in my hand. This is easy to do when the fibres are so short and allows you to use them up easily.
My favourite way of using them up has to be the carding of the fibres. If you can’t pull the fibres to put them on the carder split the top down it’s length a couple of times and you’ll find it much easier. Just look at the images below for what can be achieved by taking the time to card.
I really love the mix of orange, pink and red, so vibrant! The final image is all the leftover bits carded to produce fibres that almost look like a painting. Carding allows you to create unique colours. If you store these they will eventually begin to felt again so I usually make them into pre-felts (part made felt, stop felting whilst still soft) which can be stored for a long time and mean you always have something lovely in your stash. All those bits you might have thrown away have a new life and you get 100% usage from your fibres. Good financial sense and great looking pre-felts!
I’ve just had a look at the Adelaide Walker website and there are some good deals during January. Although the Vat has gone back up prices have been held on all fibres for the whole of the month. In addition they now have have Wensleydale curls on offer and also have a Cashmere / Tussah Silk blend in stock. Definitely worth buying now, if you have the cash.
When I went to bed last night it was snowing, at 2.30am it was snowing, and it’s snowing heavily now. We’ve had an extra three inches so we’ll be off sledging and snowman building shortly. It looked so lovely by street light that I went out early and took some photos in the dark.
I thought mine would be the first footprints in the snow but as you can see, the cats have been there before me. The presents are finally wrapped with some of the dried orange slices and leaves on them. Don’t they look pretty. We’ve made our own crackers. Loo roll interiors, clean jokes, newspaper hats and gifts that will be useful rather than landfill fodder.
The final picture is a selection of the paper snowflakes we’ve been creating. The intention is to make them into a snowflake mobile of which I may be able to show you a picture later. The last thing to do (bread and veg shopping already done) is to make a lemon drizzle cake for pudding tomorrow. Merry Christmas all.
I came across this site for Susan Mills this morning whilst browsing around the internet. The mixed media work she produces using felt and items like bone, is really inspiring and very different from anything I’ve seen before. Definitely worth a visit.
It’s nearly a week since my daughter and I went to the wreath gathering to make our Christmas decorations. In addition to the ones I made there, which I’ve only photographed today, I’ve gone mad and made some more. It’s become quite compulsive and it was really hard to stop and go start making tea. Here are the ones I made last week.
The one on the left shows three of them on the runner I made today. I thought the large red flowers looked good with the red glass candlesticks and best of all, the fabric was leftover from an item I made as a Christmas present, but that has to stay secret for now. The ones below were made by my daughter.
Not content with eight decorations I made one for the mantelpiece and three more for the porch.
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As promised here are some more of the items I’ve felted this Christmas.
It’s a shame that the photos don’t show the twinkle on the felt but the tree, the wreath and the mantel cover all have angelina fibres in the felt. I started the tree on a resist using pre-felts and then finished it by rubbing. I lifted the leaves regularly to stop them sticking to each other. For the wreath I covered a polystyrene ring with fibre then glued the prefelt flower and leaves on. It was quick, easy and effective.
The candle decoration is fibre wrapped around twigs from the garden which have then been glued together and are actually more stable than they might look. (thank goodness for hot glue guns) The mantel cover has been edged in blanket stitched gold thread. I think it’ll look lovely when I get the lights up and some greenery on the mantelpiece.
Christine has been kind enough to share some pictures of her Christmas offerings. Aren’t they lovely? I really fancy the brown cushion with the flower and seed heads and the red dolphin one is very nice too, although I’ve nowhere to put that one! Keep them coming.
Two shopping weeks left and I’m glad to say I’ve made a good start on buying presents for friends and family. Wrapping the presents and decorating the tree are two of my favourite parts of Christmas. My daughter is learning to play the piano and has been practising carols (every day!) so we can have a sing along on Christmas Day. This weekend I’m joining friends (thank you Kate) for a fun day making wreaths and other Christmas greenery with which to decorate the house. There are orange slices drying in the oven – mmm, lovely smell.
I’ve also been busy adding to my shops both here and at Folksy. The bag below is on Folksy and the notebook cover is here on my own site. Do check out my other items for sale.
The notebook is titled ‘Limestone and Lace’ – named by my husband. I may ask him to name all my items he does it so well.
One item I’d still like to buy is a notebook for my daughter. Preferrably textured, anything soft is always a big draw for her. So if anyone knows where I can find one do please let me know. And no, she doesn’t like pink. Acceptable colours are purple, blue, green and orange, or so I’m told.
I’ve been thinking for some time that it would be nice to be able to display the things that people have made on my workshops, and also to record the kind things people have said. So here it is, I’ve finally got round to adding a page to my site. Hope you find it interesting.
