More needle felted Flowers

I never thought I would like needle felting, it never appealed to me when I started wet felting which I love doing.  There is nothing like starting out with raw wool and wet felting it into a piece of felt that you have made yourself.  BUT now I have tried needle felting, I love it. It's quick, not at all messy (no soap or water involved) and I like that you can make it stand out or 3D it .

I have made a few more little flowers and a heart. They still aren't as good as I would like them to be, but for my first attempt I am pleased with them and now have to sew them onto some of my hand made felt. Or make them into little brooches.

The only drawback is the sharpness of the felting needle, it's quite a dangerous hobby. I have stabbed my finger a few times now and no matter how careful I've been it's still happened.  I may have to get some of those rubber thimbles from a stationers.  I only wish that the felting process didn't result in the felt being a bit fluffy. It doesn't felt as smooth as wet felting, but like I said it's quick and less messy.

These photo's were taken in the evening, so the light isn't very good.

Orla Kiely and Needle felting

I have this passion for everything Orla Keily. I first came across her designs many years ago at the Kilkenny Design centre in Southern Ireland and again in the Design centre in Dublin. I loved her designs then and now they are (she even has shops)  everywhere even on the Tesco charity bag (sore subject as I didn't manage to get one !) anyway I now have four of her lovely bone china mugs and have to buy 2 more.  I also discovered her perfume and bought myself a small bottle. I love it and received a present of a boxed set with the perfume and a cosmetic bag and a small fabric bag that holds the perfume, which is to fiddly to use for that purpose so I'm using it to store my crochet hooks as it's a perfect size. Here's some photo's of the mugs and the perfume set.

NEEDLE FELTING

I have been wet felting (self taught) for a little while now, but was curious to try needle felting after looking at some websites and I was fascinated on how the 3D technique worked. So today I bought some felting needles and went to 'Superdrug' and bought a couple of  bath sponges which were expensive from the craft shop and these cheap ones did the job. I made my first little 3D flowers. It was relatively easy but the needles are so sharp and the lady in the shop did warn me that it hurts when you stab your fingers, but I just thought Well ! I'm not going to be so stupid as to do that !!!  well I was !! and it hurt, so lesson learnt.

Here is my first attempt they aren't perfect but I am pleased with them and I can't wait to do some more.

Crochet

I thought I would update you with my crochet.  Back in August 2010 I bought some Rowan wool from Liberty in London : -http://allotmentheavencraftsandrecipes.blogspot.com/2010/08/ive-been-to-libertys.html

Well I haven't been doing very much crocheting recently so the squares are coming along very slowly. I have made these so far. Luckily I am only making a cushion cover, so I don't need to do many more to finish it.

The colours don't look great in these photo's as the light is so bad during the day. I should have taken them outside for a true colour.

I have also been working on some new cards. Just simple little cards with  pretty tiny floral background paper, or stamped dotty backgrounds, torn mulberry paper heart, pretty Indian ribbon on green mulberry paper, and hand painted watercolour beach huts, with a little bunting. I never tire of card making and always seem to be on a roll for ideas late at night (unfortunately !) this seems to be my most creative time.

Painting Pebbles

My little grandson has ( like myself )  a passion for seashells and pebbles. He always likes to play with my collection of them which are dotted around in various places inside the house, in the garden and in our Summerhouse. So I decided to paint one for him as a keepsake that perhaps when older he can even use as a paperweight.  Below is the finished result. I coated it with a varnish to keep in the colours last night.

The painting isn't terribly good, so keeping the picture childlike is a good excuse for not trying harder. It is actually quite hard to paint on such a small scale, although the pebble isn't that small, but it's still difficult, (for me anyway)  On the back I wrote a little message which is a family joke now ! as whenever I ask Bertie how much he loves me his answer was always £15,( it's gone up a bit now !!!)  ha ha,  and I would reply well I love you millions AND £15.  In case you are wondering who MoMa is it's me ! that's how he said it when he was smaller (he's 3 now) he couldn't say Grandma, so we left it at that as it saves complications with his other Grandma, as neither of us wanted to be called Nanny or Nana.

Now I have to paint one for his little sister Florence, can't do one without the other.  I thought perhaps a little house with a picket fence and a few flowers and of course the bunting and maybe some stars. It's quite addictive !
M xx

Covered Boxes and Christmas Hearts

Yesterday I spent a couple of pleasant hours covering a nest of boxes that I bought from a craft shop. I covered them  with some 'Orla Kiely' paper that I bought recently.  I had also bought a box that was already covered with another of Orla's designs. I love her small designs. The box already covered was rather expensive, but I HAD to have it.   Then I spotted that the shop sold small rolls of paper in different Orla Kiely designs, so I bought a sheet with covering my own boxes in mind. When I got it home I was delighted to find that the paper had a small design on one side and a larger different design on the other. So here are the finished boxes which will look very smart on some shelves in my study/craft room.

My Friend Pam over at 'Hortensia' has also been covering a Pringle carton with some lovely paper from 'Paperchase' and it look good.



The little box on the top is the one I bought covered, I love the design




Christmas Heart's

 I thought I should start adding a little bit of festive bling around the house seeing as we are now into December.  I decide to string these little glass hearts along the mantelpiece, I bought them a few weeks ago, I just loved the colours as they remind me of Indian decorations, so colourful.  They glitter and shine when the candles are lit in the hearth beneath them and look stunning.

 

I haven't had a Christmas tree for some years now as I only like real ones and they are so expensive and then get thrown out after a few weeks, so I have had willow twigs in a large pot and decorated with fairy lights and a collection of 'little folk' that I have been adding to over the years.  Unfortunately my willow twig tree was past it's best after being in the house for a number of years all year, with the fairy lights on, so it became very brittle and was thrown out a few months ago.  I now have to source some more willow twigs for my 'little folk'. Here's a couple of photo's from last year.

The Finished bag

Well I managed to stick to my hour a day finishing one thing off at a time, and although I did go over the hour the bag is now finished. It's not perfect and I did say it will look a little 'homespun' but Florence is only 21 months so I'm sure she wont notice the faults !!!! such as  the little quilted Angel is a bit squiffy, and also I should have embroidered the F and the E in a brighter colour as it doesn't show up too well in the greeny- blue, anyway I am generally pleased with it.   NOW onto the next project tomorrow, the crochet squares.

Sorry there are so many photo's, but I couldn't decide which ones showed it off to it's best advantage.

Crafty

I thought I would share my recent crafty moments with you. I haven't been able to concentrate for long periods recently as I seem to have so many things that I need to / want to do that it all overwhelms me and I end up doing very little in the way of actually finishing something.  However I have given myself a good talking to !!!! and decided that I will do one task each day for at least an hour at a time, that way the plan is I get a bit of progress and actually finish some things eventually ! anyway here is a few things on the go :

The only square that I have managed to crochet so far with the new Rowan wool

A little bag that I am working on for Florence

Hand embroidered name detail

A little hand quilted and beaded Angel for the front of the bag

 I will show the finished bag as soon as I have completed it. The dotty fabric is to line the bag and for the handles, it should look very girly and have a 'homespun' look to it when finished. I've no pattern and have made it up as I go along, which has probably made the whole project take longer.

Some new fabric ( fat quarter) and some yummy coloured threads

No plans on what to do with these yet, but I just had to have them.