Felting Sunshine

The Best Ever!

2012-01-11T18:19:00.000-05:00

Well my DD did it again! She made the most awesome needle felted creature, and gave it to me! I love this guy! How lucky can a mom get?

2011 in Review....

2011-12-31T04:54:00.000-05:00

Wow! This year has flown by! I have had so many great experiences. And it truly has been a year of learning.
I learned how to knit, weave on my tri-loom, and spin. I opened up an Etsy shop, and have met so many wonderful people who are as crazy as I am about fiber. I joined a fabulous guild, and have loved learning from a group of talented and friendly folks! My family has been so supportive of all of my new endeavors, and rarely complain when the kitchen table is piled high with dyed fibers, or if the house once again smells of vinegar from a marathon dye session. On the personal front, I have had ups and downs, but my family has been with me through it all, and for that I love them even more!


Learning to spin......

And........the best part......my fiber babies!


Piper my Giant French Angora and Challenger my Rose Grey Alpaca.

Here is wishing all of you a wonderful 2012!

Fluffy flowers.....

2011-12-22T17:24:00.001-05:00

Mohair and wool wet felted flowers. I am working on these fluffy little flowers. The bloom portion are mohair that I dyed from a dear friends animals, and the wool is some domestic wool that I dyed up ages ago to use for the stems of my wet felted flowers. The fuzzy look of these flowers make me super happy. I am FINALLY enjoying some time off from work. I LOVE my class this year, but have felt bogged down by the politics of the education system, and was thankful for this break to recharge and spend some quality time with my own kiddos---who aren't such kiddos anymore! My oldest DD finished her 1st semester of college, and we could not be prouder of her! My 15 yo, is enjoying the break from high school and has been sleeping in daily! Off to get that dinner finished! Happy Felting!

The garland is done....

2011-11-27T05:00:00.003-05:00

I had to nix the hemp idea...it looked a bit "too" rustic! I love this yarn and had a hard time capturing the softness with a picture. Now hopefully we can get some cooler weather.....it's been in the 80's.....then I will be ready to put the tree up and dress it with this soft and fluffy goodness!.

Tis the season.....

2011-11-26T10:38:00.000-05:00

Making a garland for my tree this year. Once I finish the core spinning, I will ply with chenille, hemp, and silver! Loving the soft fluffy batts!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T07:21:00.002-05:00

Have a wonderful day!

Namaste Farms Online Radio by Namaste Farms | Blog Talk Radio

2011-11-19T17:18:00.000-05:00

Namaste Farms Online Radio by Namaste Farms | Blog Talk Radio Great fiber fun and info. This coming Wednesday Jacey Boggs of Sit and Spin fame will be a guest!

SAFF shopping!

2011-11-13T08:04:00.002-05:00

Need I say anything?! And to think I missed 1 whole building of shopping!!!! I told my DH it requires a return trip next year.... :) I was thrilled to get a chance to touch and buy blends and varieties of wool and Llama that I have only read about. I was in sensory overload and loved every.single.minute.

Fleeces from SAFF

2011-11-11T08:39:00.001-05:00

I have been back from Asheville for a few weeks and have slowly been making my way through the fleeces I purchased. I bought 2 Romney and 2 Lincoln. Let me say, I have worked hard on the Lincoln....it was not skirted...can you say "STINKY"?! But once I got rid of the poopy parts, I was left with BEAUTIFUL curls! I am now soaking another 1/2 lb or so of the curls right now. Once those are done, off to the dye pots they will go....

Grey Romney

White Romney

Raw Lincoln

Soaking Lincoln

I have sorted another lb. of white Romney and that is next to be washed. The grey Romney is so clean, and was a Blue Ribbon winner! It is not as soft as the white, but has such gorgeous crimp! That will be washed, but will be easy because it is sooooo clean. So today will be washing! And maybe a bit of dyeing.

Tomorrow I'm off to a guild meeting, I have missed those ladies....I missed the last meeting because I was in Asheville. Next post will include all of the goodies I purchased.... :)

Super Cuteness

2011-10-19T16:28:00.000-04:00

I had to share this super cute picture! I had a Monarch chrysalis developing on my front porch. It decided to hatch today and my DD decided to do a photo shoot with it and my bunny Piper. Piper was intent on her Basil leaves and did not seem to mind her hitchhiker!

On the fiber front, My DH and I head to Asheville tomorrow. I am going to SAFF!!! I am so excited!!

Part 2.....

2011-10-16T10:12:00.001-04:00

Here it is! I love it and now see some areas I need to REALLY focus on for the next one. I used Falkland Island wool, I am too rough on pillows to make it out of Merino. The Falkland will wear much nicer I think. I am now coming up with a million different colors I could do this project with! Thanks Deborah for the inspiration!

Thanks! Part 1 of 2.... ;)

2011-10-15T17:23:00.004-04:00

I owe a special thank you to very talented felters. They are Heather from Wool-Love Functional Fiber Art and Deborah from Felters Journey. They have been sharing their felted creations while I seem to have fallen off the face of the felting earth....... :) I know a tad dramatic but hey, I'm a gal!
Anyway I am making a nod to both of theses gals because I was inspired by both of them for this post. The two part post, well, that is a little thing that Heather does with her projects. And the actual project, well, was the latest one that Deborah showcased on her blog. When she referenced the magazine she saw the project in, I ran to my own copies and there it was. I had actually bought it and NEVER got around to reading it....
So thanks to both of these ladies for inspiring me to have some soapy, wet, wooly fun- I won't take such a long break again!
Here is the first part:

Stay tuned and keep your fingers crossed for part 2.......

It's done....

2011-09-21T19:09:00.000-04:00

My first tri-loom shawl!! I love the open weave of this shawl. It's perfect for Florida's Fall and Winter. As a "first time learned from the internet project", I am quite pleased. Even if I never wear it, looking at it makes me smile.

It has been a therapy shawl of sorts. I have many hours of thinking woven into this shawl, even a few tears. Hopefully the negative energy I have absorbed over the past few weeks has been worked out into this shawl (from people who love nothing better than to lump good teachers together with bad and wonder why the good ones are so hard to find....)

Letting it go.........and loving my shawl.....

Tri -loom fun!

2011-09-15T18:17:00.000-04:00

Hi all! I have been working on a special project this week.......

Being back to work has made it much harder to find the time to work on this project, but it has proven to be a very relaxing way to spend some down time. So, while my DD is busy with homework I have been weaving...since we are working on the same table, we can chit chat when she needs help and I get to spend a little more time with her!

The yarn I am weaving with is a single I spun during TDF on Ravelry. I LOVE weaving on this loom because I don't have to warp it first....I am using one continuous strand for both the warp and the weft! That's my kind of weaving!! This will make a nice size shawl and I should be done with the weaving this weekend......all I will need to add is a fringe.

It seems like forever!

2011-09-03T19:43:00.001-04:00

Thank you to my friend Norma for reminding me to come out and play! :)
School is underway and I am EXHAUSTED! Every year we start from scratch and run non stop until June. It's a crazy cycle that makes me wish we had year round school!

I have been busy dyeing today to try and restock my shop. In the down time between rinsing fleece, I decided to spin up a bump of Merino/Alpaca that I purchased from Andrea of Wonder Why Alpacas. I love how this blend is spinning up!

I added 2 more fiber toys to my arsenal over the past few weeks. :) I guess I'm not too tired to continue to stimulate the economy! ;)
The first is another wheel. I bought an Ashford Country Spinner- this wheel is PERFECT for creating those chunky art yarns, and is so much fun to core spin on!! The next toy is a beautiful new 5' tri-loom. I have everything I need to start a shawl....but I am scared to death! I think I need to take the plunge and get on with it. More later...on to pull in all the fiber I dyed today! Here's a peek of some.....

The fun had to end.....

2011-08-14T11:26:00.000-04:00

Ah well, I knew it couldn't last.......
I knew it would be sad......
My summer is officially over, back to work for me tomorrow! ;)
I actually am very excited and look forward to seeing co-workers and those wonderful kiddos!
I can honestly say this has been one of the most relaxing summers I have had in all the years I have taught.
I have spent my summer learning and doing the things that I love. I have recharged myself and am ready to put this energy into my students.
Well I am off to enjoy my last day- guaranteed to be full of fiber fun!

Shetland Fiber Study

2011-08-06T08:35:00.000-04:00

For the month of July, I (and fellow Ralvelers) took a look at Shetland fiber. The focus for the group was to explore spinning Shetland fleece.

A little while ago I mentioned a new book called The Fleece and Fiber Source Book. The book is amazing and has almost everything you would want to know about fiber. The part that was missing for me was the felting part. So I figured since I was spinning it, I could also felt it and then I would have knowledge of another fiber that I could possibly use for projects. Yes, I know that information is already out there on the internet somewhere, but I like to see and feel it for myself. :)

The fiber I used was most definitely double coated. The wool was coarse to the touch and this would not be my first choice for spinning, but I would use this for felting if I needed a sturdy finished product. It wet felted easily and with 3 fine layers gave me a nice sturdy piece of felt. I would love to make a bag using this wool as I think it would be sturdy and resist pilling. I'm still working on finishing the spinning and then I will ply the yarn, was, and then determine how I feel about using it for a crochet or knit project. Right now for felting, I give it a thumbs up.

Happy Mail Day!!

2011-08-03T18:00:00.000-04:00

Oh wow did I get a treat in the mail today!!
I ordered some raw merino and it is BEAUTIFUL!!!! As soon as I opened the bag I was amazed at how well skirted it was!

Hello! Do you see that crimp?!? I am love, yes I said LOVE with this fleece! :) It washed up like a dream and is now sunbathing in the fabulous Florida sun!!
( I'm glad no one was home to see me sniffing it!) ;)

Soon it will be added to some super soft and lovely batts to go in the shop, and of course I will ~~hoard~~ save some for me to spin up. :)

Still plugging away...

2011-07-31T20:24:00.000-04:00

I am almost finished with my June Phat Fiber Superbox spinning. I won this box in June for purchases I made from contributors to the June Phat Fiber box. This box had fiber and yarn samples, some full size batts, a project bag, full size yarn, a spindle, and patterns in it. It was like a huge fiber explosion! I was thrilled to win it, because I NEVER win anything. I took all of the yarn samples, ran it through my winder and now have a huge ball of cool looking yarns. I started crocheting already...we will see what I end up with. :) I decided to spin the fiber and filled up one, two, and am now working on my 3rd jumbo bobbin! I am loving the chance to spin every kind of fiber that you could think of!! So far my favorite to spin was the cotswold! It's such a sturdy fiber!!
Here is a picture of skein 1 and skein 2, still working on 3!

Bolly Batt ingredient sneak peek

2011-07-24T22:47:00.000-04:00

Merino is here!

2011-07-24T10:58:00.002-04:00

Yeah! It seems I have been waiting FOREVER for my merino to come in for the shop...but Friday it arrived- lots and lots of it. So, on to the dyeing! Any special colors you would like to see?

I am almost done bagging up my PHAT samples for the Bollywood theme. I am in love with them! My favorite so far- maybe because of all the bright colors! I decided to do them up as Bolly "wool" Bags. For the full size bags, they weigh in over 3 ounces. I pulled off approx. 1 yard sections of roving in orange, green, deep blue, pink/purple (merino and Falkland Island wool) added a nice bit of bright yellow firestar, curly yearling mohair locks in a bright turquoise, sari silk, black angelina, a nice fluffy pink sparkly batt and finally a few yards of ladder ribbon done in warm jewel tones. I will have the full size bags in the shop after the 12th. I also will be providing the Phat Fiber Blog with a full size bag as a giveaway. You can spin/felt from the bag, or you can card it up into a super colorful "Bolly Batt"!

It's done!

2011-07-22T16:40:00.000-04:00

All I can say is WOW!!! Height 14 inches......
She is so proud of it!

First woven scarf

2011-07-22T10:10:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago I spun up some alpaca that was dyed by my friend Kim. I decided to use this handspun on my first handspun weaving project. I used a store bought warp, and used my handspun for the weft. I learned tons doing this first scarf. Next time, I will warp with larger spaces so that the bumpy lumpy parts of the handspun are not hidden. Also, I will make sure if I am doing color changes that I actually keep track of how many rows were woven with each color. But all in all, I am pretty happy with my first scarf! And warping was not as scary as I thought it would be!

Needle felting on a grand scale

2011-07-22T06:20:00.001-04:00

My DD has been busy again! She recently sketched out a Suess like character in her sketch book and informed me that she wanted to make a HUGE needle felted likeness of her sketch. I of course was excited to share all of my dyed wool to help her create this project. She is still working on this, but of course I HAD to start taking pictures.....
The orange body is the size of a basket ball...it's huge. The little green fluff is part of the tail. She is going to work on contouring the body after she finishes covering it in the orange wool. It has been so awesome seeing the progress on this project. Okay enough gushing from the mom...:)

Bollywood as an inspiration

2011-07-21T16:58:00.000-04:00

Loving the colors and different fibers that I have been dyeing today. You cannot help but be in a good mood after looking at all of the fabulous colors coming out of the dye pots. Still have another 1lb of merino to work on and then hopefully will get some of the firestar finished. It's easy because felting is not a concern.

Back from vacation

2011-07-21T10:40:00.003-04:00

It's always nice to be home. On the fiber front, I am in the process of dyeing fibers for the August Phat Fiber box. The theme is Bollywood. I am finishing my dyeing today with yearling mohair locks. They are soooooo soft!!!

Our vacation took us to the woods for ziplining and then to the beach for lazing around. The ziplining was amazing and my DD (15 yo) had a blast. And the beach was wonderful too. I think we are spoiled here in Florida and probably take the beach for granted.....

Here is a video clip of me zipping the last part over 700 ft. of water. We started high up above the trees.

TDF day 12......and other wool stuff

2011-07-13T08:44:00.000-04:00

I have not spun on all of the days, I have to spread the love between all of my ~~obsessions~~ hobbies. Yesterday I did spin more corespun. for my DD's hat. I also dyed some more fiber- some for the shop, more for just some projects I have in mind. I also felted a small pouch. I have a workshop in August that I am teaching and needed to do some sampling with the wool I want to use. I'm glad I did because it did not shrink as much as I anticipated-so I adjusted the template size. Today will include dyeing more wool- and getting ready for our upcoming camping trip. :)

Silly Sunday Post

2011-07-03T11:45:00.000-04:00

Needle felted sheep and alpaca made by my daughter.

Tour de Fleece 2011

2011-07-02T21:03:00.001-04:00

Well I accomplished all of my goals for the day. Tomorrow I will work with the Suri Alpaca fiber. I will spin some that I have processed into roving and I will spin some that has been finger fluffed. It will be interesting to see the different textures that I can get.

I also have a goal of learning the techniques in the DVD Sit and Spin by Jacey Boggs.
Tonight I worked on thick and think yarn. After spending all of my time trying to make my spinning thin, I now get to make big fat puffs! :)

It was only a matter of time.... ;)

2011-07-01T08:38:00.000-04:00

I have a new fur baby. Yesterday my youngest and I headed out on a road trip about 3 hours North. I have been looking for an angora breed for a few weeks, but every time I think I have found one, they are all sold out. Yesterday morning I stumbled across an add for a French Angora. When I contacted the breeder, she informed me they were gone :( But she told me she had 3 Giant Angora's that she was selling for a friend who had to move. She sent me pictures, and I did some research- found out they are perfect for spinners, next I decided I need to see how BIG these GIANTS would get- so we went on a trip. Now mind you, my husband could not believe I was willing to drive 3 hours one way to go see a bunny (sometimes men just don't get it....)

Anywho....of course one of the females came home with us. Oh lordy she is going to be a BIG spoiled baby! Even Morgan our shepard mix is in love with her. She actually wanted to stay out next to the hutch all night. Crazy dog!

Now we just need to name her....always the hardest part for me!

oooh look how shiny!

2011-06-29T14:41:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I decided to process some of the mohair that I purchased from Southern Mystic, a fellow Phatty for the Phat Fiber Box, on Etsy. After washing in some Dawn detergent, I started up 2 different dye pots. After mixing and adding colors, layering the colors as the fiber started absorbing the previous colors, this is what I ended up with. It took longer to dry because it got caught out in a summer rain storm yesterday. But today has been super clear and sunny, and the fiber is warm, soft, and super fluffy. Might me time for a fiber nap... I'm not sure if you can tell from the pictures, but this stuff is so shiny! I thought I would only use it for felting, but I think I have changed my mind. I had to go back and order more today. I also ordered her Sci-fi spin along, I got a sample in my Phat Sampler box and I was hooked!

Core spun on wire

2011-06-27T23:51:00.000-04:00

This is getting out of control.......but it's so much fun! Spinning on wire is an experience. I had to hand feed most of it onto the bobbin. Next time I might look for a thinner wire.

Speaking of wire, look what my dear blog friend Norma sent me for my birthday! Thank you once again Norma! I love her!

Getting Ready....

2011-06-27T21:10:00.000-04:00

My Suri fiber is dyed, and now in the process of becoming roving from my drum carder. I have fiber everywhere! It's going to take me FOREVER to clean all of the extra fluff off of my carder :) I am going to card each color individually, and then spin. I am saving my oranges to spin un carded and just fluffed. I am gearing up for the Tour de Fleece. And all of this alpaca fiber I have been hoarding is going to be spun. I have Huacaya in rose gray ( about 10 ounces or so), chocolate brown, white, a really pretty lighter brown color, and a beautiful gray. I think I will be busy enough! In the pile of fiber in the picture, the green is the Suri I have already made into roving, The rest is fiber that I have processed over the past couple of months.
I think I am crazy, but holy moley it's reaching intervention levels around here with all of the fiber, and I don't even own an Alpaca!!!

My team is Wonder Why Alpaca- Team of Wonder. :) Thanks Andrea for letting me join!

My First Corespun

2011-06-22T08:53:00.000-04:00

I decided to take some time yesterday to play with some new techniques I have been practicing on my wheel. So far my favorite is core spinning. I REALLY want to try weaving with some of this yarn. I used some domestic wool that I dyed in pink, turquoise, and a soft almost mint green. I made a fluffy batt and threw in some angelina and crystal metallic fibers. At first I was freaked out at how over spun my core was becoming but I kept plugging away. After I filled my bobbin, I decided to ply it with a hot pink. I LOVE it!! And what makes it so fabulous is it is almost perfectly balanced.......only a slight 1/2 twist at the bottom when I hung the skein!!!!

Guild Meeting and Alpaca Cuties

2011-06-19T09:15:00.004-04:00

Yesterday we had a guild meeting. There was so much to learn. First I had a chance to spin on the Kromski Minstrel wheel. Oh my what a nice wheel! I REALLY liked the height and the smoothness of that wheel. I wish I would have taken a picture at how wonderful she finished it. She used a deep blue wood stain and hand rubbed the final finish. It was beautiful! Kim our hostess showed us how to spin straight from an angroa bunny. There was fluff everywhere!

If you look off to the left on the picture you can see a bit of the wheel I mentioned.
Of course my daughter kept saying "Mom.....Mom"......she wants a bunny, and I did my best not to make eye contact with her. :)
And finally a visit with the Alpaca's. A cria was born about 3 weeks ago. Every time I go I come home wanting to buy a piece of land and a bunch of Alpaca's. What awesome animals they are!!!!

Visit Woodland Hills Alpacas

What a great day!

I think I will take a break from dyeing!!!

2011-06-16T19:38:00.000-04:00

I have been having a blast dyeing wool. Now I need to get busy doing something with it. I started making some flowers today. I have also been practicing my spinning.

I found a really simple crochet pattern for a cowl that I really liked on crochetspot.com. I found a wool blend in my stash of store bought yarn to try it out with. I am going to try it with a finer yarn and see what I end up with. I love small projects, that still look nice!

The Ultimate Reference Book!!!

2011-06-16T14:09:00.000-04:00

I am a book lover. I especially love reference type books. I have found the ULTIMATE reference book for fiber lovers. Well at least I think so...... :)

It is called, The Fleece & Fiber SourceBook, I am not even through the first chapter and I am in deep like of this book!!! In short, this book gives detailed information for more than 200 animal fibers. The book is written for the person who uses these fibers to spin, dye, weave, and create with.

Check it out, I think you will be happy that you did!

Congrats to my gal!

2011-06-09T22:45:00.000-04:00

Well today was the special day. My oldest daughter graduated from High School! I am so proud of her!

Felted bag for a friend

2011-06-05T20:36:00.001-04:00

I had a request for a black felted bag with pink stripes from a co-worker based on Heather's peanut resist bag that she made for me. I used a rectangle resist for mine. So today was the day to get that project completed. I actually started it yesterday, but it got too hot in the garage to complete it, so I waited until it was cooler this A.M to work on it.

I have decided that I DO NOT like working with black wool! I used a dyed merino. It kinda reminds me of wearing black pants.....it attracts all kinds of fiber and looks messy. After the photo shoot, I gave it a shave. It cleaned it up much more to my liking. I hope my co-worker likes it........giving something I make to someone else always causes me such anxiety!!!

Soooo excited!!!

2011-06-05T10:19:00.000-04:00

I get to go to SAFF in October! I mentioned it to my husband and he asked if I would be able to get off from school during that time. When I checked the calendar, I noticed that we will have no school on that Friday! So needless to say we booked the hotel and will be heading up to N.C.!!!!!! Oh man I REALLY need to start saving now. So if anyone is also going, I would love to meet you! I will be easy to spot...... because I will be the gal who is pinging from booth to booth with a crazed look in her eye! Oh, and I will be followed by a man who will be piled with bags of fleece!

M-T-W SALE

2011-06-05T09:48:00.000-04:00

Yarn & Fiber COMMUNITY Online Sale
June 6th-8th
20% off in my shop. Use code SUNSHINE20 for all fiber/batt purchases!

Winner of my 1st Blog Give-Away

2011-05-30T10:10:00.000-04:00

Very high tech method of determining the winner.... :)

Please email me at feltingsunsine at gmail.com with your snail mail address and I will get your goodies out to you!

Thanks for all who commented on my shop. I think I like this giveaway stuff so keep an eye out for more in the near future!

Finished 1/2

2011-05-27T17:53:00.000-04:00

Well I filled and then plyed 2 bobbins of the alpaca. I just cannot get over how soft the fiber is.....I did notice after plying that I probably should have spun the singles a little tighter because they loosened quite a bit when I plyed the two together. But I am still very happy. First because my singles were thin enough to be plyed and actually look like yarn and not rope, and second because I took this fiber through almost the entire process- except the shearing part. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the yarn once I finish the other half. I'm sure I will figure something out.

A month of 1st's!!!!----Giveaway!!!

2011-05-23T17:16:00.000-04:00

My 1st's this month:

My 1st Etsy Sale
My 1st Blog Giveaway
My 1st born graduating from H.S.

I wanted to have a giveaway and so here it is. Baby batts made with merino, falkland, silk, and firestar. This baby batt can be spun, wet felted, and even used for needle felting. I am giving two baby batts(1.5 ounces total) to the winner-plus some other goodies that are fiber related. :)

How can you win?

Comment under this post about your favorite item in my new shop, or if you don't like anything, suggest a color combo- 1 entry
Facebook "Like" Felting Sunshine- 1 entry
Mention this giveaway on your own blog with a link back to this post.

Each person can earn up to three entries into the giveaway. I will ship anywhere that mail can travel.
The winner will be announced next Monday on May 30th.

Dyeing and Spinning Alpaca

2011-05-22T19:25:00.000-04:00

Today was another dye day, along with the dreaded grocery shopping, and a trip to my favorite store The Loft at the mall to pick up some really cute outfits for this awesome warm (read hot as heck) weather we have been having. I'm really not complaining, we have been very lucky- knock on wood- to have really low humidity so far. Once that starts, we will probably never get out of the pool.

But anywho, this is not a post to yak about the weather. Today I FINALLY dyed up some of the alpaca that I have been processing. After I cleaned it, I ran batts on my drum carder and then used a diz to pull off roving. I ended up dyeing the batch using a super diluted red, pink and yellow. I love how they merged together to create what I like to call a watercolor effect. I pre drafted a small amount and spun it up. OH MY GOODNESS- it spins like a DREAM! Alpaca is awesome!!! :)

Well I am off to make a brownie chocolate sundae...YUM! See ya tomorrow for the details of the BATT GIVEAWAY! :)

Oh how I missed you!

2011-05-21T11:14:00.000-04:00

I'm still here, reading every single day. I have been doing fiber related stuff, gearing up for my free time this summer. I have been dyeing and making batts like a mad woman. I am contributing to the Phat Fiber box for June and July, so I have been trying to make my sample batts- June is done and the dyeing has been focused on my July batts. I even made my 1st Etsy sale! So in honor of that, I will be having a batt giveaway! I'm so stoked.....my very first giveaway! Can I hear a wooohooo??!! :) I will post about it on Monday, so stay tuned.

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T15:19:00.000-04:00

I hope you are enjoying yours!

Flowers from my girls.... :)

Oh what could it be?????

2011-05-06T17:41:00.002-04:00

Hmmmm...what could make me a happy gal? I'll give you a hint....it has something to do with this orange container.

Let's just say it has something to do with the fact that I will have an entire summer to create.

And that I have the worlds most supportive husband. Hands down- the best! Not one complaint from him about my purchase.

It almost felt like Christmas did when I was a kid when I opened the box.

Oh heck..I'm terrible with building suspense...I will leave that to Heather-she is a pro she always leaves me hanging with her 2 part posts!

So.............here it is......

30 lbs, of the softest, fluffiest, wool......oh my goodness!

I think I have enough to last me a lifetime...lol

I plan on starting this weekend....I am setting up the garage as soon as I am done posting and I am going to have myself a wool dyeing "fiesta"........ And the first color on my list is ORANGE!!!!

All finished!

2011-05-05T19:25:00.000-04:00

I came home today and started sewing on the pin backs for the Mother's Day pins that my class made. They turned out really cute. I know they will be happy to pin them onto the handmade paper we made and wrap them up for their moms! I am looking forward to doing this again with a future class. Here is a picture of the completed pins. Next time I will take the time to teach them to sew the backs on.......lol

My two loves merge...

2011-05-04T16:37:00.001-04:00

Some of you may know that I am a teacher. I have taught 2nd-5th grade. This year I have been teaching 2nd grade, and I love it! They are like little sponges that soak up learning. So, I decided to teach my students how to make felt.

They decided that they wanted to make a felt bloom for their moms for Mother's Day. So I made some mixed batts in pinks and yellows, gathered enough bubble wrap, tulle, and string, and lugged it into school.

I decided to work with small groups, I think it would have been chaos doing it with my entire class all at once...lol

They did a fabulous job and I was impressed with the nice fulled pieces they ended up with.....they loved all of the rolling. As they worked, they would laugh at the bubbles that came out of the ends of their "felt burritos". When they rolled they chatted with each other and it was nice as a teacher to be able to step back a bit from the academics and see my kiddos as learners in a different light!

The pictures are pretty bad, all I had was my phone...Still, what a fun time we had! Now I get to sew them to pin backs and we get to wrap them on Friday......I hope all the mommies are happy with their truly handmade gifts from their kiddos!

Batt to Yarn

2011-05-01T09:40:00.000-04:00

In the spirit of using what I already have, I decided to try out some color combinations. Lot's of sparkle in this batt, I really need to figure out how to take pictures that show the sparkle. I pulled off about 1.5 oz. using my new diz. It made it really quick to spin up since it was almost completely pre drafted. I pulled the rest of the batt off whole. I will pull the predraft off in strips since I carded it pretty even in color across the carder. The darker blue merino really changed the look of this batt. The lighter pink is all alpaca. I am very happy with how soft this batt turned out, and am so far happy with the yarn (it's going to be added to my crazy scarf somewhere along the line).

Here a fiber there a fiber...everywhere a fiber, fiber.....

2011-04-30T14:11:00.000-04:00

Oh my! Today I started culling through my stash of fibers. This is the part that is organized so far. We won't talk about the bins in the garage..... ;) Let's just say, I should probably focus more on creating and less on buying.....
I'm not quite sure how to explain my new collection to Mr. Sunshine......:)

I'm sure there are others out there that have the same problem...right???......

Maybe a 12 step program is in order.....

Have a wonderful weekend!

I dipped my toe in....

2011-04-29T10:34:00.000-04:00

Well I am going to try it. Etsy that is....but only for batts. Since I love making them, and well if they don't sell, I'm sure I will use them somehow. I'm still not sure about the whole shipping deal so, I mirrored one of my favorite shops. We will see how it works out.

Anywho...I have been on Spring Break this week. Basically I have been hanging out with my hubby (who took some time off) and my girls. We went to a wedding on the beach on Wednesday. Sometimes I REALLY love living here in Florida...it was gorgeous.....both the wedding and the weather! We are gearing up for a busy month. My oldest graduates from high school!!! I am so proud of her and some days it just takes my breath away when I see her for the beautiful and smart woman she is becoming. i love being a mom! :) Have a great day!

I finally did it!

2011-04-23T07:21:00.002-04:00

Woohoo, I figured out how to knit. Okay, I can do a knit and purl stitch......but hey it's something! I am doing "continental style" knitting vs. "english style". I tried both styles but found that the continental was most comfortable for me. For some reason it finally clicked for me.
I know what I will spend my day practicing.

I also made a journal cover. I included sari silk and silk caps into the cover, but it didn't show up as much as I had hoped it would-the texture is awesome.

Hi I'm Kelly and I spin rope......:)

2011-04-17T08:09:00.003-04:00

I am not going to give up! Yesterday I went to a guild meeting and picked all of the wonderful spinners heads. These ladies are spinning beautiful yarn! We had a demonstration on Navajo Plying, it was really neat watching it! All I do know is that if I decided to Navajo ply any of the "yarn" that I have made so far, it would then become rope.........I did get some questions answered about the settings for my wheel and now understand that I have had the brake set incorrectly, which has caused me to continue to over spin. I also learned that I need to pre draft even more than I had been. So today I am going to sit down and try to put into practice what I learned yesterday. I did promise to bring my wheel to the next meeting ( so that alone will force me to practice so I don't embarrass myself)! I also met a wonderful spinner and knitter who lives about 15 minutes from me! She has offered to help me! So all in all, yesterday was an awesome day for meeting new friends, and learning new things.
Also, Kimberly, of Woodland Hills Alpacas, sent me home with the prettiest rose gray alpaca fleece. It is amazing and I cannot wait to clean it up and make something! The Alpacas looked so silly with their pom-pom heads after their shearing and the stories about how they didn't recognize each other were so funny!

Here is a new bag I made yesterday, using these curly cotswold locks! I'm trying to use all of this blue that I dyed up.....

My week...

2011-04-16T09:08:00.001-04:00

Every single day after work, no matter how worn out I was, I made myself work on something creative....it actually made me forget how tired I was!

I started another embroidery class with artist Susan Sorrell, called Dippity Do. Each week we have a new part to work on for our Dippity Do characters. This week has been sewing down the applique pieces. Next week we will be moving into the decorative stitching. I love her online classes!

Another project I am working on includes using my hand spun yarn. Since I am still in the beginning stages of learning, I have decided to take all of the practice skeins and create a project with them together......I am sure it will be very strange looking with all of the crazy color combinations, but I'm okay with that! ;)

The final project I worked on was a wet felted bird. I saw a cartoon bird on a business card and remember seeing on a web site a similar bird, so I drew it out and put the drawing away. As I was cleaning my ~~junk table~~ desk, I found the drawing again and decided to wet felt the body. It is filled with dried beans. My dog Morgan, who seems to REALLY love my felted pieces has relocated this poor bird a few times. I ended up putting it up on a shelf that she cannot reach! Crazy dog!! Today I head off to my 2nd guild meeting. I am excited to see the Alpaca that were sheared, they did it on Thursday, so I am sure they look quite different from my visit last month!

I hope all of you have a fabulous weekend!!

My favorite kind of washing!

2011-04-09T19:29:00.001-04:00

Today started early for me. I'm an earlybird and love the quiet time I have in the morning while the rest of the family is sleeping- I seem to get tons done and don't feel too guilty for taking some me time.
I decided to start washing some of the Alpaca fleece that I purchased when I went to the last Fiber Arts meeting. I have sorted most of it and decided I want to try spinning some.....it still needed to be washed, so that's what I spent my morning doing. When Alpaca is dry it has virtually no smell, but peeeewww, it had a VERY different smell when it was wet. Now that it's dry, the smell has gone away, but it was kinda stinky! :)

I have about the same amount left to wash as I did wash today....but I think I have enough cleaned to get started. Now to decide if I am going to mix it with some Merino or just spin it on its own. Any suggestions out there? I've decided not to dye this batch....maybe the next batch.

My what big ears you have.......

2011-04-04T19:16:00.000-04:00

Ralph our Chinchilla.

My Heather Wanna Be Bag :)

2011-04-03T18:58:00.002-04:00

I decided to take a stab at a larger bag. Similar to the bag that Heather made me, but squared off. I now have a bag perfect for my weekly trips to the library-- since the bag Heather made me is already in use! I dyed up this wool (BFL) on Saturday, and really wanted to try something with it. Thanks Heather for the fabulous inspiration.

Blue Spin

2011-04-01T05:37:00.000-04:00

Here is what I have started.

I think it's my most consistent yet........

My talented daughter!

2011-03-28T19:32:00.001-04:00

I was so happy when my 18 year old daughter showed an interest in needle felting. She is my go to gal anytime I need a creative drawing or painting done and has always had the "eye" for scale and proportion. Lucky for me she has started needle felting me a "flock" of my own sheep. :) I was at the local plant nursery this weekend and found some moss that reminded me of grass. I have it potted and sitting on my desk until I decide what in the world I want to do with it. I had a little photo shoot with the needle felted sheep she has made me so far.....I think this is as close to owning a sheep I will ever come.

Start to finish.......

2011-03-27T20:50:00.001-04:00

I only had a chance to play with the green. I used a bit of everything I dyed on Friday in the batts. I then made roving out of the batts and spun them up. I plied the yarn onto itself.

Spring colors everywhere.....

2011-03-26T16:56:00.000-04:00

I started dyeing wool (merino, BFL, and polwarth) tencel, firestar and some alpaca yesterday when I came home from work. It has now finished drying in the awesome Florida sun. The colors remind me of Easter egg dyeing. I want to make some fluffy spring batts and now I have some pretty spring colors to add to them. Also last weekend I ended up buying approx. 3 lbs. of Alpaca fleece at a wonderful local farm. I am almost finished picking it, and am going to spin it up. I bought gray, white, a deep chocolate brown, and a wonderful carmel brown color. I REALLY like the softness of this new to me fiber. I was given a few predrafts of it last weekend to try spinning, I loved working with it and need to get the rest done so I can finish filling the spool. Thanks for reading!
Kelly

A wonderful Gift!

2011-03-23T16:24:00.000-04:00

On Saturday I had the best mail day! My special blog friend Heather, sent me a wonderful felted bag. I am in love with this bag! It is made with my favorite colors and is completely functional!
It will always be known as the "Heather Bag!" Thank you Heather!

Having fun

2011-03-19T07:59:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was filled my my 3 favorite things!
1. Shopping- my youngest will be 15 at the end of the month, so we needed to do some shopping for her. ( I cannot believe my BABY is going to be 15!!!
2. Spinning- I have really been working on drafting consistently....it's getting there.....
3. Felting- I cannot show this because it's a surprise for a special blogging friend.....

All in all I had a FUN and productive day. Later this afternoon I get to head off to the fiber guild meeting. Have a fabulous Saturday!

Fiber fun coming soon.....

2011-03-16T19:17:00.000-04:00

I have a 4 day weekend coming up and I have lot's of fiber fun planned! Saturday I am going to an Alpaca farm that is hosting a fiber group meeting. This is the first group I have heard about here in my area, so I am excited about meeting other folks who are as crazy about fiber as I am! The rest of the time is going to be spent felting some special projects. I had a chance to spin a bit after work in between running my kids from place to place. Thanks so much for all of the positive comments on my first spinning attempts. I am enjoying it and I am sure if I keep practicing, I will get better! :)

still practicing....

2011-03-15T06:08:00.000-04:00

The blue and white one is all merino, and the orange one is a merino and silk blend. I really liked spinning the wool/silk blend. I am doing small batches until I get more consistent with my drafting.

Lazy Day....

2011-03-12T16:53:00.002-05:00

Here's what I have been doing.....

What I have been up to....

2011-03-09T15:41:00.001-05:00

About a month ago I was able to watch a lady spin on a spinning wheel. It was almost hypnotic watching, and seemed to be such a calming activity that I was really wanting to learn how to do it myself. I was too shy to ask her if I could try. I finally decided that I wanted to learn how but was not sure about driving over an hour each way to take lessons. So I did what I always do....I jumped in with two feet and decided I would teach myself. Ha! Needless to say I think I might finally have figured it out.....sortof. I will say that once I got beyond trying to figure out tension settings and found a rhythm, it was very relaxing and I was so thrilled with my first spin and ply that I cannot wait to try again!
Now for those of you who have mastered this...please don't laugh...lol :) oh heck who cares...laugh, I'm so stinkin' excited with it no matter how fluffy and over spun/underspun it is! :) I feel like a little kid who made a picture that they are so proud of!!!

dot to dot

2011-02-21T18:32:00.000-05:00

I finally had a chance to do something with some of the royal blue wool that I dyed a few weeks ago...you know...the one that made my hands look sort of "smurf like"..... I cut out circles of prefelt using a scrapbook diecut machine that I have from my stamping and scrapbook days-what an awesome time saver-the felt cut like butter, and I have tons of dies in tons of shapes to play with.

They sort of look like eggs after felting...but hey I'm going with it. I do see that if I use such a dark bottom layer, that my prefelt pieces might need to be a bit thicker..the blue did seem to migrate more than I anticipated. I now have approx. a 16 x 16 inch square that I can sew into something fun!

I'm here

2011-02-19T07:25:00.000-05:00

It has been a few crazy weeks with work since I posted last. I have started making batts with the wool that I dyed in the previous post. The first batt I made was made from my leftover pieces of wool. It's a hodge podge mix of different types of wool that I ended up tossing into the emerald green dye pot. The colors that resulted are exactly what I envisioned! This batt is approx. 3 oz. I will be working on the rest of the green today, and then need to finish cutting some prefelts for a "spring" project I am working on. More later...thanks for reading!

I feel like a Smurf!

2011-02-04T19:08:00.001-05:00

I just finished dyeing a few pounds of wool. While I was immersing the wool into the royal blue dye, I accidentally pushed the edge of my glove into the dye and yes, as you have probably guessed, I filled my glove up with blue dye! But the results were worth it-the colors are yummy! I also dyed some green tonight- about 1 lb. I had a bag of scraps and bits of roving that I had been using for flowers and small objects. I decided to throw the whole lot ( approx. 6 oz.) into the green dye too. I love the result of the variegated greens I ended up with. Even the hot pink over dyed into a pretty mossy green! I needed a variety of greens for a panel I am working on and this gave me a huge variety of shades to work with......not too bad for scraps! Too late to dry tonight so I will post those pictures tomorrow.

T-Shirt Rug

2011-01-30T14:58:00.000-05:00

I started cutting old t-shirts yesterday to make yarn for this project. It was a fun and quick project but I don't recommend using t-shirts with any hint of lycra- they make it a little more difficult to keep the tension correct. Now I am going to try to finish up some pre-felts I need for a special project I'm planning- have a wonderful afternoon!

Last one I promise! :)

2011-01-24T16:38:00.000-05:00

Oh my goodness they are so cute. Now we have 5, they are about the size of a ping pong ball. The bounce around like ping pong balls too! I love them when they are little babies. Last night when there was only 1 my DD decided he looked lonely so she needle felted him a friend. He actually slept huddled up with the "wool quail"! Too adorable.

The babies are on their way....

2011-01-24T02:10:00.000-05:00

This has nothing to do with felting...but does show what has gotten me off track from my good intentions to felt today. Every year I incubate quails with my students. Well one of the babies couldn't wait for tomorrow, so it decided to show up today. It does not matter how many times I see these little guys being hatched, I am mesmerized each and every time! This video shows the baby after I removed him from the incubator and put him in the brooder box. His peeping makes my DH's Blue Crowned Conure scream...you might hear him in the background.....

Slippers.....

2011-01-23T09:54:00.000-05:00

I felted these around a flat resist. I had a hard time trying to make the seams not too bulky. The first pair I tried had thin areas at the seams. I have some leather that I am going to add to the toe and heel sections on the bottom so they are not so slippy on the floor. For a first "Officially Wearable" pair. I am so-so happy with the result. Now to go work on some smaller felted projects that involve wood, embroidery, and felt......

doin' the happy dance..

2011-01-15T17:37:00.000-05:00

So today I drove to my favorite twice a year antique fair in Mt. Dora, Florida. I was as always finding treasure after treasure. We were on our way to our car when I caught something out of the corner of my eye. Sitting half hidden on an old bench was a HUGE rug...but not just any old rug....it looked like it had been wet felted and then embroidered. I checked it over and saw only a few small areas where some of the embroidery on the border had come apart, but the rug as a whole was VERY clean and in great shape. It didn't have a price and I almost walked away thinking it would probably be WAY out of my price range. I patiently waited for the man who owned the rug to finish with another customer and I asked him what the price was.......and here comes the best part....the part that made me almost sing.......it was only $20.00!!! Yeah me!! I love a deal!

Be Mine?

2011-01-14T16:05:00.000-05:00

I have been super busy since I have been back to work...not much time for felting, but I have been creating. I joined a valentine swap and have been playing around trying to figure out how to make a postcard with fabric. These are 3 that I have played around with...I only need 1 for the swap now to figure out which one to send....

This weekend I plan on rolling out some prefelts for a project that I want to try. I also want to try another vase resist project. I still have not mastered that, so that is on the agenda. Tomorrow I get to go to my favorite antique town here in Florida and spend the day shopping...I am so looking forward to it!

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T10:28:00.000-05:00

I enjoyed my New Year celebration with neighbors and then snuck back home with my kids and we made chocolate cupcakes with a chocolate mousse topping as the new year ticked in. PERFECT way to start 2011! :)

My only resolutions this year will be focusing on what I can do instead of what I can't do....
1. Learn something new everyday.
2. Look for the positive in my daily life.
That's it! :)

Day 1-
Learned: I learned how to make a wool sweater wreath!
Positive: A chocolate cupcake in the morning is a great thing! ;)

Have a wonderful day!!

Organizing and Brrrrrrrr.....

2010-12-28T07:58:00.000-05:00

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!

2010-12-24T17:03:00.000-05:00

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....

2010-12-22T16:43:00.000-05:00

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

2010-12-20T11:33:00.000-05:00

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 ;)

2010-12-19T17:29:00.000-05:00

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

2010-12-18T06:31:00.000-05:00

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....

2010-12-17T15:43:00.000-05:00

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

2010-12-05T15:45:00.000-05:00

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...

2010-12-04T07:09:00.000-05:00

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...

2010-11-26T14:43:00.001-05:00

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!

2010-11-25T09:23:00.000-05:00

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...

2010-11-22T12:18:00.002-05:00

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....

2010-11-21T15:26:00.000-05:00

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...

2010-11-20T17:09:00.000-05:00

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....

2010-11-20T16:54:00.000-05:00

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

2010-11-07T13:54:00.000-05:00

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

2010-10-31T08:42:00.002-04:00

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....

2010-10-30T14:44:00.004-04:00

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!

2010-10-30T13:17:00.000-04:00

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....

2010-10-25T16:33:00.000-04:00

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...

2010-10-24T14:24:00.000-04:00

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.

Felting Sunshine

The Best Ever!

2011 in Review....

Fluffy flowers.....

The garland is done....

Tis the season.....

Happy Thanksgiving!

Namaste Farms Online Radio by Namaste Farms | Blog Talk Radio

SAFF shopping!

Fleeces from SAFF

Super Cuteness

Part 2.....

Thanks! Part 1 of 2.... ;)

It's done....

Tri -loom fun!

It seems like forever!

The fun had to end.....

Shetland Fiber Study

Happy Mail Day!!

Still plugging away...

Bolly Batt ingredient sneak peek

Merino is here!

It's done!

First woven scarf

Needle felting on a grand scale

Bollywood as an inspiration

Back from vacation

TDF day 12......and other wool stuff

Silly Sunday Post

Tour de Fleece 2011

It was only a matter of time.... ;)

oooh look how shiny!

Core spun on wire

Getting Ready....

My First Corespun

Guild Meeting and Alpaca Cuties

I think I will take a break from dyeing!!!

The Ultimate Reference Book!!!

Congrats to my gal!

Felted bag for a friend

Soooo excited!!!

M-T-W SALE

Yarn & Fiber COMMUNITY Online Sale June 6th-8th 20% off in my shop. Use code SUNSHINE20 for all fiber/batt purchases!

Winner of my 1st Blog Give-Away

Finished 1/2

A month of 1st's!!!!----Giveaway!!!

Dyeing and Spinning Alpaca

Oh how I missed you!

Happy Mother's Day!

Oh what could it be?????

All finished!

My two loves merge...

Batt to Yarn

Here a fiber there a fiber...everywhere a fiber, fiber.....

I dipped my toe in....

I finally did it!

Hi I'm Kelly and I spin rope......:)

My week...

My favorite kind of washing!

My what big ears you have.......

My Heather Wanna Be Bag :)

Blue Spin

My talented daughter!

Start to finish.......

Spring colors everywhere.....

A wonderful Gift!

Having fun

Fiber fun coming soon.....

still practicing....

Lazy Day....

What I have been up to....

dot to dot

I'm here

I feel like a Smurf!

T-Shirt Rug

Last one I promise! :)

The babies are on their way....

Slippers.....

doin' the happy dance..

Be Mine?

Yarn & Fiber COMMUNITY Online Sale
June 6th-8th
20% off in my shop. Use code SUNSHINE20 for all fiber/batt purchases!