Artists' ClearingHouse

This weekend was the Artists' Clearinghouse at Crossings. We had great weather; that is to say it was sunny and about 30+ degrees F. Though it started out slow on Saturday morning, we ended up having a lot of traffic come through during the weekend. I did fairly well, selling more scarves than vessels. Thank you to everyone who stopped by!

The thing that surprised me is how many people knew what felting was. Last year it seemed I had to explain it to everyone, but this year, I could hear all the little conversations between people that indicated they had at least a general idea of what it was.

Two of the other artists were friends that had taken my felted vessel class in January: Amy Giannini makes beautiful jewelry, and Stacy Drenckhahn makes fine silver items, raku pottery, and other very creative things. Leisa Luis-Grill had several of her paintings and jewelry in the show. Loretta M. Verbout had photographs, matted and made up as cards. and Becky Jokela had her pastels there, with lots of local scenes. We had a fine time cutting up, laughing and eating when the traffic slowed.

I tried to get a sense of what people were actually buying. Some of the people bought my scarves to use on the wall or table, so I might try making some intended for that purpose. And I think I am ready to try using more prefelts (partial felts, needle felted batts).

No pictures this time as I forgot the camera again. I suppose I could have taken one using my phone, but it never occured to me, and I would have to figure out how to download the pictures onto the computer.
This week the kids are on spring break, so I'll either get a lot of felting done or none at all. We'll see how it goes.
Happy Spring!

A Time to Felt

Is there ever time to felt? I seemed to have been consumed by non-felting projects lately, not to mention that life moves at the speed of light with all the children's activities. But, we did get our camera back, so here are pictures of the very few things I got done in January.

A felted merino scarf with a little bit of silk and some wool curls at the ends.

A felted hat that my friend helped me make using Navajo-Churro wool. My daughters are coveting this "cowgirl" hat.

A small felted vessel I made while teaching Basic 3-Dimensional Wet-felting.
I was happy that the class went well. Everyone seemed to have a good time and they were very patient with me. It was my first time teaching adults. There were 12 fun ladies in the class.

Next time...pictures of the wool purchased from The Fiber Studio. I am ready to make some scarves.

Show shots and Fabrications

Show shots from the RAC Artists' Morning.

Well, here it is. Scarves were displayed on one table. Vessels and other things went on another table. I'm sure I have a lot to learn about display and merchandising, but it seemed to look nice. I sold only a few things, but it wasn't expensive to participate and fun to boot. I met a weaver named Connie Simonson. She creates beautiful handbags, table runners, and other items with great texture and color. Connie does custom work through her Etsy shop Illoominations.

After lunch, it was off to Crossings for the Fabrications Artists' Reception. This is the 3rd year I've participated in the show. Several other felters also participated, doing all types of felt making including needle felted pins and brooches, needle felted hair barrettes, scarves with needle felted sheep as a design, needle felted animal sculptures. Wet felted items included hats made of Navajo-Churro wool, jewelry, and some crochet-and-fulled vessels. The show also included other fun fibery things: weaving, hand-spun yarn, knitted items, jewelry, and a dress that looked like it was made of paper money. I'm sure I'm forgetting something worth mentioning, so you'll just have to check it out yourself if you are in southeast Minnesota.

After that it was back to real life. The whole weekend seemed to be a crazy word problem series from some nightmare SAT test.

"If Renee has to be somewhere by 8am, and her husband must drive Child #2 to choir practice at 9am, how many of the other five children must he take with him while he does speed-Christmas shopping before picking up Child #2 one hour later and dropping Child #4 off at a friend's house?"

"And if DH must be at church by 4:30 pm, and neither Renee or Child #2 is due home until 5pm, can Child #3 babysit Children #5-6 until Renee completes her obligations and picks up Child #4 from her play date?"

"And, by the way, where is Child #1? He left Friday to go winter camping somewhere with his Boy Scout troop. If they drove north for 2 hours going 60 miles per hour, then we hope they had heated cabins wherever they were going, 'cause it's pretty doggoned cold outside."

Thought for the day: Step back from the busyness of life. Remember that the Creator of the Universe created you and loves you. He will give you all you need. Rely on Him, instead of your own strength.

The Adventures of Felt Girl

I've been struggling to get any felting done lately. Lots of things going on with the family...2 children had birthday parties, our church choir had an event, school conferences (x5), being a superhero...

What? You didn't know I was a superhero? I got my secret identity just today. I am..."FELT GIRL", and I have a trusty sidekick, Lava Girl (my 4 year-old red-headed daughter). Lava girl "turns into lava with her head on top of it." Felt Girl, "makes felt and ties people up with them." Not a bad super power.

Since we last saw Felt Girl, she managed to finish some felted vessels and even felted a scarf, er, a shawl, or, um, maybe it's a table topper. It turned out kinda big, but it's pretty.

This one will be on display at Crossings during the month of December.

Just a simple one in Purple and Gold. I like how the gold migrates through the purple when it is felted.

This one reminds me of winter.

My attempt at an original motif.

My extra large Christmas scarf. The snowflakes are trapped between two layers of mesh. The mesh is trapped between superfine merino.

Oops, Lava Girl needs my help. Tune in next time for the adventures of ...duhn duhn duhn...Felt Girl and Lava Girl.

Scarves and vessels

Just some things I've felted lately.

Mocha scarf. So named because I've already spilled coffee on it. I'll probably keep this one. Machine needle felted.

Nuno scarf on silk, made in class last weekend.

Nuno scarf made with Optim and mesh.

Nuno scarf made with lace.

Seaweed scarf

And some vessels.

This picture was taken on a cloudy day with no flash. The color is really washed out.

Large vessel with silk cap cut into pieces.

Ode to the Red Hat Society.

An example of why you should never give up on a piece. This thing sat on my shelf for months. I was never happy with it and couldn't figure out what to do with it. Finally I needle felted the surface with swirls and reshaped it into a square vessel. I like it much much more.

Something sort of Christmas-y.

That's all. I don't have much to say right now. Just wanted to catch up on pictures.

Have a great weekend.

Satisfaction

I said I'd be satisfied if I tried out some scarf ideas and felted two vessels that I'd started. I actually got it done. I love love love Frabjous Fibers Multicolored Merino Top, seen in colorway Moulin Rouge on the scarf with the ribbons. I found Frabjous when I got the chance to go to Susan's Fiber Shop in Wisconsin last August (Hi Susan!). The rainbow colored merino on the first scarf pictured, is some I got quite a while ago from The Fiber Studio in Minneapolis (Hi Pam!) I am a sucker for those multicolored fibers.

Below are the two bowls I wet felted yesterday. I am undecided about them. They are telling me they are not finished. Since I plan to donate them to Channel One's Empty Bowls Fundraiser, I'd like them to stay more or less bowl shaped. So I will keep working on them.

Today I made some updates on the blog settings, and thought about possibilities for needle felting classes I could teach. I also came across an awesome Etsy shop by an artist who calls herself Deebs. She does some incredible needle felted art. I wish she'd come and teach.

I didn't get any actual felting done today. Too much going on here with kids and their friends. We are totally enjoying these autumn days. We've had sunny skies and cool temperatures. The trees are usually in peak color around this time, but this year I think it will peak a bit later. Any of you keeping track of that sort of thing? This is the part of fall I love, but I always feel a bit sad (or SAD) knowing that before too long, the weather will turn rainy and colder. When that happens, I'll just have to cheer myself up by making felt.

Wet Felted Vessels

I've been asked to teach again. (Yay!) This time it will be wet felted vessels for adults. Here are a few samples. These were made on 5-7" inflatable balls. I've started experimenting with shaping these small vessels instead of leaving them round.
The proprietor asked if I could come up with a more catchy name for the class, and I agree"wet felted vessels" doesn't sound all that glamorous. Ideas anyone? I googled, and almost everyone lists similar classes as "wet felted vessels" or something very close.
I am trying to stay productive. Two more vessels are laid out ready for felting, and I'll also try out some scarf ideas that have been simmering in my head for some time. If I accomplish that this week, I'll be pleased.

Making felt while the sun shines

I'm taking advantage of good weather, healthy children, and a strange abundance of energy to get things done. Channel One, the local food bank, will be having a fundraiser in October called Empty Bowls. Artists donate hand crafted bowls, which are auctioned, sold, or given to people attending a soup supper. Here is one bowl I will donate.

I also finished 2 scarves. I would call them laminated scarves, I think. I knit the scarves in a very loose stitch on large needles. These I used as the base for wet felting. One is done in a window style, with patches of knitting left uncovered by the layers of wool. The other is felted into a solid layer of merino/silk. The pictures are quick and dirty, but the scarves came out well.

If everything keeps running so smoothly, I will be able to get a lot of work done.

I was also asked if I wanted to teach an adult felting class (vessels again). So I need to put together a proposal quickly, and make up some samples.

Happy Felting everyone!

Some Felting Pictures

I am busily getting ready for Fabrications V at Crossings in Zumbrota (December) and also for a little art/craft show that is put on at the Rochester Athletic Club in December. Here are some of the things I've made lately. I've really enjoyed working with some new fibers, especially some multicolored merino top from Frabjous Fibers.

Here is a really beautiful scarf in colorway Tango. It also has a little silk embellishment. This one would make a nice warm coat scarf.

This second scarf is also in Tango with silk embellishment. It is very thin and lightweight, maybe a nice little accent scarf with a blouse.

This scarf in whites, is another of my romantic series that has lace embedded into it along with various yarns, all bound together with some white merino/silk blend.

For this scarf, I used Optim white merino---ultra fine! It has a sparkly white yarn running through it, with just a touch of color to embellish it.


I am really pleased with this vessel. The outside is a multicolored silk cap. Just underneath is a sparkling layer of Angelina. Blue and purple layers of wool make up the body.

More functional items--these can be potholders or trivets or table toppers.

I was playing around with needle felting and came up with these flowers. I haven't decided quite how to use them. They'd make pretty pins, or embellishments for other pieces.

And a few more vessels.

This one is extra tiny. It started out as a round scrap-the leftover top from cutting open a small vessel. I steamed it and shaped around the smallest cup I could find. It would make a cute ring holder. It is about 2 inches tall.

Here is the last picture. This vessel has been sitting around for awhile, waiting for inspiration to strike for its final form. I steamed it and started stretching it, and it decided it wanted to be square instead of round. I like it much better this way.

So there you have it. More pictures and less blathering, as promised!

My Mini-Handbag

I thought it was time for some pictures. Here is the little handbag I made in Lisa Klakulak's workshop at Midwest Felting Symposium.

Structurally, it came out well. The handles are firmly attached, and the felt is strong.

I like the flower on the front, but the cord is a little on on the long side. I got a little carried away, learning how to join 2 lengths of cord together, and I didn't stop to think what length would look best.

Here it is opened up. The flap also has a pocket, created by a "design opportunity" that came up when I realized the flap would be twice as long as the handbag if I cut it the way I intended. The discolorations are actually partial felts that were supposed to come out a little more vividly.

It needs a closure. Here, I am trying out a felt button I made. It is quite large in scale with the small bag, but since the handle is so doggone long, it just might work.
Here is a bad closeup of the button. I'd take a better picture, but I already put the camera away. I can see I need more light in my photos. Photography is not something that comes easy to me. I am too impatient to set up properly, use a tripod, work on the lighting. Maybe that has something to do with having six little studio assistants running around asking for snacks. Ah well, school is a mere 19 days away.

A Variety of Felting Projects

This post will be mostly pictures. DH has been out of town, and I've been doing the single parent thing all week. God Bless You who are single parents all the time! Anyway, I am a bit sleep deprived, as I don't sleep well when he's gone. Also, had a terrific thunderstorm last night .

I've been working on a variety of projects. I made up the scarf from Tammy Deck's Tree Bark Scarf kit. I think it came out nicely, but I'll give credit to Tammy and her color choices. I made another scarf in blue and white, in my own design. My counter top is just long enough to lay out a scarf.

I experimented with geodes a few weeks ago, and finally put some of the slices into a piece I'll call Cosmos.

I'm in the process of adding beads. The base is made from a black merino batt that I had made into a prefelt using my Janome Xpression. The embellisher did a good job making the prefelt, but for this project the prefelted background made it harder to get the motifs to felt securely on. I resorted to drying it out, then needlefelting the motifs on, then finished wet felting. Then, I needlefelted over the tops of the motifs to brighten up the colors, which seemed to lose their brilliance. The black lost a LOT of color while I was wet felting, and I think it dulled out the other colors. The tails of the "comets" are multicolored merino top.

Did I say this post would be mostly pictures and that I was too tired to write? Haha.

Here are the rest of the pictures without comments.