Needle felting - my new addiction

equipment and fleece

I made three resolutions at the beginning of the year. One of them was learning to needle felt.  I had no idea how much fun this would be, or how quickly quite reasonable creations could be made.  I am still a long way away from the works of art that I have seen on PINTEREST and in some of the ETSY shops but I am very happy with my progress so far.  I have found that felting half light is not a good idea - a double stabbed finger before I came to my senses and realised I couldn't see what I was doing.  I now have a useful little lap tray with magnifying lamp (purchased at the WAR AND PEACE SHOW of all places http://www.thehopfarm.co.uk/events/176/the-war-and-peace-show/) which makes things a lot easier.

seahorses and a heart

So far I have discovered that although you can get fleece from Hobbycraft (my only local craft shop) it is rather coarse in texture.  I much prefer the feel of the fleece I brought years ago from READERS UNION book club.  I have been looking on line and have found a couple of firms. http://www.worldofwool.co.uk/index.php 
There is a good range of colours at a reasonable price.
http://www.bloomingfelt.co.uk/ 
A more general range with lots of pre-formed pieces.

I have also discovered  that the brush type needle felting mat, although expensive, does make a lot of the work easier. 
Since I shared my first attempts with you I have made purses, seahorses (lots of seahorses), a couple of little GREEN ALIEN bag charms and a vintage looking bag charm of a COUPLE OF CHERRIES WITH LEAVES.  I have begun to list my creations onto my new shop http://www.creativestores.co.uk/DREAMTIMEMAKES/Green-needle-felted-coin-purse.html

needle felt cherries

little green winged alien

This piece with seahorses is a work in progress.  Having created the design I am embroidering highlights.

 
  It is hard to say how much I am enjoying this craft and I hope that with practise I may become as talented as the people who inspired me on pinterest.


http://pinterest.com/idamaecouch/needle-felt/

http://pinterest.com/kelbug/nuts-about-needle-felt/ 

SEA GLASS MOSAICS

I now have so much sea glass that I thought I would try my nieces idea.  With the bag she collected she was going to do some Mosaic on a tea light holder.  That sounded like a lovely idea - the flame flickering through the different shades and colours.

not a very good drawing but good enough

my seahorse

putting on the clear glass

First I drew a very rough outline of a seahorse on a piece of paper cut to size.
Then I placed green glass on it, rearranging till I was happy with the design.
Using superglue gel I fixed the sea glass to the tea light holder one piece at a time following my design.
Then I covered the rest of the tea light holder with clear glass - with a few thin lines of green to look like seaweed.

My first piece of Mosaic - a shame that it wasn't on my list of crafts to try.

With some teeny tiny shells and a couple of slithers of sea glass ( the bits that you would think are far to small to use on anything) I have made a really pretty phone charm and another glass charm pendant.  I will be listing the pendant on Etsy later.  I am not sure what I want to do with the phone charm yet.

It was a chilly start to the day so we lit the fire early while we made up our minds what we were going to do.
Lunch in Broadstairs was the decision and a very good one it was.  A very nice lunch followed by a walk along the sea wall at Stone Bay.http://www.flickr.com/photos/73346943@N07/sets/72157628853489351/
As the walk was a post lunch thought we hadn't got cameras with us so these were taken with my phone.  I did change the settings to sport which probably helped.
It was lovely to come home to a cozy house after walking along the shore.

Feeling ill but pulling through

Suffering from a killer cold at the moment. Yesterday was spent asleep, feeling a bit better today. Very annoying as there is so much I want to do.

by palameras

Feeling a little better so I have been reading Etsy hints and tips on selling.  Here's hoping I have learned something.   The big problem with Etsy is getting distracted by all the fantastic things that there are for sale there - so many talented people.

by MissKayes

This is an item listed by   palmeras           I think that it is truely beautiful .This bag is by MissKayes - I think her bags are works of art.
Both of these items are on Etsy

Its late afternoon  and I am feeling a bit better, I made some lemonade as it seems to ease a lot of my suffering.  Just drinking the first glass while it is still warm.