Organizing and Brrrrrrrr.....

I have not been felting, but have been organizing ALL of my crafting supplies. Stamping, sewing, felting, knitting, crochet, embroidery, stained glass, lampworking, and general crafting....I used to seperate all of the items by what craft they went with....but now I have organized by like items and it is soooooo much easier to find things. We have had some chilly nights here in sunny Florida. It actually says 27 degrees F, on my thermometer right now! The kids would love to see snow, but the most I can give them is some frost.....Hope everyone is staying warm,,,,,,,

Merry Christmas!

I cannot believe how quickly this Christmas Eve has approached!
I wanted to say Merry Christmas to all of you and to thank you for all of the kind words that you have shared with me this year.

My husband, I and our 2 daughters exchanged our "homemade" gifts with each other today and it was wonderful!  My family showed me much love in the gifts they handmade for me and each other!  Both of the girls were so proud of themselves as we were of them also and declared they wanted to continue this new tradition.  I will post later with pictures.  We are off to celebrate with my sister, her husband, and my parents! 

I'm not good at being sick....

Well ...school ended on Friday and it looks like my 2nd graders left me with more than Christmas wishes....I think I have the flu...uuuggghhh!  Achy, stuffy, drippy, grumpy, yep those all are great descriptors of me right now.  Since I can't run around and get things done, I decided I would use my down time wisely....crochet in bed...lol  I am currently on my 3rd scarf in 2 days.  So whether they (my family) wanted a scarf or not, they are getting one.  My hubby has been taking great care of me :)  Off to drink another gallon of OJ and hope that the vitamin C does its thing.

Glittery scarf

Another present complete.  Here in Florida we don't get long cold spells.  But when it does get cold, it's nice to have one of these cobweb scarfs handy.  This one is for my mom.  I hope she likes it.....merino, silk caps dyed a peachy orange, and some peach dyed angelina fibers for some extra sparkle.  Outside the sparkle did not show up too well in the sun, but it's there...just very subtle.

More batts...no..not flying mice ;)

A few months back I washed and dyed a bunch of raw wool that I had purchased.  I had bags of the wool locks stored away waiting for the day I would be able to create batts.  Now that I am officially on vacation, I have been digging the wool out and making batts in between shopping, cooking, and just plain relaxing..although a what I hoped to be a quick trip to IKEA was NOT relaxing.
Anywho...here are a couple shots of the before/after of the two latest ones.  I am becoming quite good at cleaning the drum off between batts!

Also, a HUGE thank you to all of the wonderful comments.  My family members just shake their heads when I start blathering on about wool, so it's nice to know others are just as in love with the stuff as I am!

Inside out batt

Today is going to be devoted to experimenting with batt making.  I want to make a batt that I can felt into a variety of pouches from the same piece of felt.  The inside of this batt is a sunny yellow.  When you flip it over, you have a variety of greens with a hint of yellow.  Throughout both sides of the batt I included silk that was dyed the same color as the wool.  I will share more later...have a fabulous day!!! :)

Felt covered buttons and typical ramblings....

Today I finished up a birthday present for my sister that I started this weekend.  I started off with my very own self dyed merino.  I carded up a batt that used 4 different colors but I kept same colors together and let them migrate into each other just a tiny bit.  I felted it as a thin panel, and then machine sewed it together.  After I finished that, I did a simple blanket stitch on the outside to give it a little something. And then moved on to finding the perfect button....I could not in all of the 100's of buttons that I have find one that I felt worked well....so.....I covered a button blank with a piece of felt that was a remnant of the pouch and Viola, a matching button.

Now I am sitting here wondering what took me so long to figure out that I could have been making these buttons for my pouches all along!!  Sometimes I'm a little slow I guess....or maybe it's this freezing weather we are having here in Florida- my brain is slushy- I'm not used to wind chills anymore....

So anyway.....here it is...I hope she likes it!

Felt Ornaments

I made a felt panel with some very soft colored gray wool this morning.  I wanted to get an idea of how much it would shrink so that I could use the wool to make some slippers.  After it dried, I decided to use the test panel to make some heart ornaments for the tree.  I like how simple they turned out...the next batch I will fill with the leftover lanvender that I ordered this past summer.

My felted trees...

My inspiration was found here.  I used the same oatmeal color wool that I used for the stockings shown in a previous post.  As an added accent on the top layer, I used a fine merino/silk blend.  I love the effect!

My first stocking...

Last year this time I had no idea what felting was, and I am trying to think back to what sparked me onto this new obsession.  I truly cannot remember......Whatever it was I am thankful for it because I have had so much fun this past year learning!
I have been thinking about making some stockings for Christmas since this past summer.  So today I decided to try.  I chose a natural oatmeal colored wool.  I made my template using wood laminate flooring underlay.  I wet felted the stocking and then needle felted a heart onto one of them.  I think I like them nice and simple like this.  These would be wonderful for small gifts...hmmmmm 
Here's to hoping you had a stress free day :)

Kelly

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to wish everyone a blessed day.  Getting ready to start the cooking frenzy! Here is a picture of Princess wearing her felted flowers...and being her nosey self.

Buttons from Germany...

My best friend went to a fabulous craft fair where she lives in Germany and sent me these buttons!  I love them and cannot wait to figure out what I can make to use them on! 

I am spending the day making wet felted panels to be sewn into pouches.....back to the rolling for me!

Flowers, pin cushion, and great conversation....

Found this ceramic dish at a thrift store for $1.  Ended up making a pin cushion out of it.  I think this one is for me...nice and simple.  I made a flower ring to be added to a gift bag for another gift. It's been a nice creative day around here.

 I also was able to make some batts for a quilting project for my mom.  She wanted felt panels so that she could use pieces for flowers that she will be sewing onto a quilt.  It was fun making them and I hope she likes what I have come up with.  But the best part of making the panels was the great conversation I was able to have with my 14 yo daughter while I was rolling....my sweet girls are becoming such wonderful young ladies!  Yes- I am a little bias..... ;)

Share your favorites...

Do you have a favorite felt related blog? Please feel free to share the link.  I would like to make a links page to add to this blog.  I have a few of my own favorites that I am going to add and would love to add more.

gift making....

Another gift finished!  Finally finished sewing the pillow.  My youngest daughter wanted a pillow....she changes the color of her room so often I figured I would make one with many colors....then it will always match! :) 

And the "Barbie Pink" scarf is finished.....it's a bright one..lol

Buckets

This is my gift wrap for the upcoming holiday season.  I figured something that has a dual purpose would be appreciated.  The directions are available from Maya Made on Etsy.  I can honestly say the ones made with canvas have been easier than the burlap ones.  But I do love how they are turning out.  So far these have been made with the recipients "colors".  BTW the green one is mine...had to practice you know...lol
Off to make more..... :)

Christmas Stitches Class

I'm taking a class called Christmas Stitches. It's by Carina over at Carina's Craftblog

This is my modified version of our first project.  Since I am a VERY visual person, I needed to make a prototype of the cone since my sewing skills are pretty basic.  Now I will work on the "official" one, that has a much nicer embroidery pattern. The bonus of this, is I have now learned how to line some of my felt purses with material! :)

The lazy girl scarf....

If you know me, then you know that I am the worlds least patient person.  So of course I had to figure a way to cut out a bunch of steps in making the previously blogged scarf.  If you have read lately then you would know that I have been in a frenzy of batt making since my hubby bought me a drum carder.  I felted flat panels just beyond a prefelt stage, but not completely to a hard felt stage.  Well I now have a huge pile of felt panels that I really had no firm plans for..... So..... I used a rotary cutter and cut these panels into 3 1/2 inch strips of felt.  I then sewed them end to end to create a long (approx. 60 inch) strip.  I did this to two blue panels I had made.  Next I sewed both of those strips down the middle.  Then I cut a fringe on both sides of the sewed strips.  Finally I re-wet and soaped them, concentrating on felting the fringe.  No joke it took about 10 minutes total.....and this is the adorable (if I do say so myself) scarf- and it's long enough to wrap and have nice long tails!!!

I did it!

The other day, Heather, who by the way has a fabulous blog sharing her felted creations, posted a scarf that she had made.  I fell in love with the funky look and decided I HAD to try and make one.  Well let's just say the first one was a Disaster with a capital "D"!  I slept on the idea and woke up this morning deciding I was going to try it again.  I modified her instructions a bit and this is what I ended up with......

Things to work on...make the fringe a little shorter....make the scarf a bit longer-that merino/silk blend shrunk much more than I expected it to....at least my fear has been overcome...and believe me that first scarf was something to fear...LOL :)

Here are a few....

So much fun!  I have a couple that I started wet felting right away...so I will only have "after" photos. :)  I love the fact that I can buy raw wool, clean it, dye it, and then make a batt!  The top blue locks were from a recent purchase of raw wool that I cleaned, and dyed yesterday.  They dried overnight and now are a soft fluffy batt.  There are wool hair balls all over the place now! 

Having fun making batts...

Love, love, love my drum carder!  I have been making batts all day today!  I will try to get some pictures today.  It has been awesome to watch color combinations that I have had in my head come together on the carder. 

Woohooo

I am so stinkin' excited!  My hubby bought me a drum carder!!  Oh my goodness I am already planning all of the fabulous fibery batts I am going to make....aaahhh :)  Happiness!

I had a wonderful morning here.  I pulled about 4 pounds of undyed merino, some silk material, silk fibers, and some pencil roving out and had a go with my new fiber dyes.  I spread it all out on the picnic table out back and mixed and played like a kid with a new box of crayons!  I set the dyes with the microwave.  I tried the oven first but it dryed it out too quickly.

Here are some shots as they were drying.

Alpaca fiber- does it wet felt?

I was wondering if anyone has any experience wet felting alpaca fiber.  I have some that is mixed with wool and it felted fine, but how does just alpaca felt?  If you know, I would love for you to share your experiences!
Kelly

The rug...

I have learned tons from this experience.  First and foremost, wetfelting a rug is VERY wet business! :)  It was a perfect day to work on this outside.  We have been having warm but dry weather here and that is a rare thing, so I took advantage of it!
I got quite a workout so I figured I can have a nice big piece of my homemade pumpkin bread tonight!
Here are some pictures of the process.....needless to say, I think my antics while making this rug were entertaining to my family...I'm quite pleased with it!

My wool cleaning experience

I have had a fun time washing...no, I'm not running a fever... :)
I spent about 30 minutes going through the fleece and was amazed at how little VM there was-my hands were so soft and slippery from all of the lanoline.  PeeWee was one clean guy!
I pulled out approx. 1/3 of the wool and placed it in a huge bucket of very warm soapy water.  I made sure it was submerged and left it set for about 15 minutes- I had to resist the urge to stir it around- didn't want to felt it yet! I pulled it out of the bucket and layed it out on my picnic table (I did this all outside).  I did a very gentle rinse to clear up the water.  Now it's laying out in the Florida sun drying.  I am loving the silver gray color and cannot wait to make my rug!  I have two more batches to go.....

Fabulous Mail Day...

Have you ever had those days where you enjoyed getting your mail?  I mean we are used to getting bills and a bunch of junk that we never really look at...not too exciting there.  Well, yesterday was a fabulous mail day for me.  First, I received my Peace Felt from Anne-Marie in the Netherlands.  I am absolutely in love with the piece!  She represented the land and sky with the panel and added a ring of flowers. 



The next wonderful piece of mail was over 3 pounds of raw romney wool from a farm in Michigan.  I have finally gotten enough courage up to try to clean my own.  I REALLY want to make a small rug from the wool.  I ordered it from Oak Willow Farm on Etsy.  Wonderful service-check them out!

And finally. I received an awesome market bag I ordered from Beth's Market Bags, also on Etsy. If you are a fan of oilcloth, then you will love her bags.  I was so happy with my purchase that as soon as I opened it, I ordered another one!  I do have to say I cannot remember a time where I was so excited to receive mail! Well enough rambling from me, I hope you have a wonderful day!

Kelly

My projects



What are you felting?

So, tomorrow is Felt United's 2nd International Day of Felt!  The color scheme is blue, yellow, and green.  I promised myself a full day of playing with wool!  I plan on making a variety of items, but top on my list is a project for a tree in my garden.  All of the wool I have ordered is here and this evening I am going to finish up some household chores so I can devote myself to a day of wooly fun!  So what are your plans?

I spent a few hours playing this weekend.  First I wet felted panels that I can use in a project I have brewing in my mind.  After that fun, I decided to dye up some more blue/green merino for some pouches that a friend has requested.  I then got to playing around with reds and pinks and ended up with a really pretty fall cranberry color now I wish I would have taken better notes on my mixing....I will have to play again to see if I can recreate the same color, because I REALLY like how it turned out-too bad I only dyed about 5 ounces.

What I have been up to.....

I have been super busy with school, but I did play some over the past weekend.

Bowls

Rose

Embroidery/Felt

My Peace Felt projects

I was assigned a Peace Felt partner and have been busy deciding what to share with her.  Last week I felted a light blue bag.  I ended up using that as well as two other pieces I made.  I hope she likes what I have made. Since she is a needle felter, I included a small bag of the wool, silk, and angelina fibers I used to make her gifts.  Hopefully she will like that also.

My wonderful vacation is over.....

Back to school for me today.  I am excited as always to get back and plan for my new students, but I am going to miss the lazy no schedule days of summer.....

Earlier in the Summer I dyed a bunch of wool, silk and angelina fibers.  Yesterday I made a new pencil case with some of it.  This time I think I was able to finally perfect adding the silk and angelina within the wool just enough to keep it in place, but not so much that I lose the sparkly quality of the fibers. 

Felt sampler pillow

I'm still taking the Organic Embroidery class.  This week we are to use a microscopic picture for inspiration.  I was excited because we were to use applique for this project.  I wet felted two pieces of multicolored felt that I knew I wanted to use for the applique portion.  The design is not what I would typically create on my own, so it has been fun to think outside of my own box for these embroidery lessons.  :)  Have a great weekend!

Doin' the hat dance!

I am so happy!  I have been wanting to make a hat.  Actually, watching someone make a felted hat is what drew me to this whole felting thing in the first place!  It has always scared me a little.  I don't have a fancy hat block and I don't like going through the whole test swatch thing.  Well yesterday some natural wool that I ordered came in.  It is the prettiest smoky gray color.  Perfect for a hat!  I made a resist using floor underlayment (awesome resist material)....it sorta looks like the shape of a bell.  After felting it, it looked like it really wanted a flower, so I made one.  Here it is!  I love it and it fits like a glove...I mean hat! ;)

Merino and Tencel .....I like!

This morning I woke up wanting to felt.  I had some fiber that I had not played with yet.  It is a merino and tencel fiber mix.  Tencel is a fiber made from wood pulp cellulose.  In felting, I can liken the look to that of tussah silk fibers.  It gives a really nice shiny look with that typical wavy look that I seem to get when I use the silk fibers.  It has a nice soft feel and if I wanted to make a piece of clothing ( which I don't know how to do...) I think this would be a nice blend to use.  I really like it!  This photo is from parts of the bag that I am making from this fiber.  I used a resist, but will post a picture of the finished bag later!  Have a wonderful Sunday!

My class

I am taking a class through http://www.creativechick.com/ called "Creative Embroidery: Organic Designs".  To say it has been challenging, is an understatement!   This is my first project which is a stitch sampler.  It has no pattern.  I still have some beading to finish on it, but am pleased with the look.  Currently I am working on a seed pod and had a chance to paint my fabric to stitch my project on.....more on that once it is complete.  I am hoping to use this class to help me add embroidery to my felted pieces.....now back to stitching! :)

It's finally done!

My rag rug is complete! My first "big" crochet project. I used old sheets to make this for my back porch. Now I can start working on a felted scarf for a dear friend of mine. I hope everyone enjoys their Saturday, I'm spending my day with the ones I love. :)

     

I have been painting, sewing slip covers and pillows, and now crocheting this rug. I have been redecorating my backporch. I spend so much time out back now that the girls have been spending most of their day in the pool, I figured it needed an update. Here is my partial view from the inside of the porch....