Thursday 30 October 2008

Alien Vegetable and Felt balls

Yesterday I went to a workshop at Stitchncraft in Shaftesbury with Heather Kingsley-Heath doing needlefelting and beading. It was very enjoyable - one or two people made finished pieces but as always I was very slow but made some needlefelted shapes that I will get round to beading sometime. Heather then told us how to make felted balls and I really loved that and came home with a little pile - so quick and easy and they actually come out round! I want to make some more and then actually make a project with them but unfortunately I've been having a lot of problems with my arms and shoulders lately and making the balls was a step too far. I'll have to wait till the pain goes before I risk another go. I also need to let my hand recover - my fingers were nearly shredded from the number of times I stuck the needle in them. We were warned to take care and no one else seemed to be wincing so it must just have been me who's completely ham fisted!
As I walked back to my car I spotted this vegetable in a local greengrocers. Unfortunately I forgot to note the name but I gather from the lady who sold it to me that it's a cross between a cauliflower and broccoli. Isn't it fabulous! I've never seen one before so I had to take a load of photos and my daughter's already planning to get the pictures into every project she does at art college from now on! I'm just slightly worried that I am now sharing the house with some alien life form....

Paper Artsy ATCs



I love Paper Artsy stamps so when I got some of their new Squiggly Ink stamps I had to have a play and these are 3 ATCs I made with them. I love the quirky style.



Sunday 12 October 2008

Wild Women


Last Sunday I went to a workshop with Tania at Rumpelstiltskin, a fibre crafts shop at Broadwindsor Craft Centre. It's been a while since I've been to one and it was great fun to do a class again. We were making wild women based on Sarah Lawrence's creation. I already had the book but hadn't got round to having a go so a class was just what I needed to make me sit down and do it. We made a piece of felt first using wet felting and my favourite colours, then we cut out 2 shapes each and decorated them with Artgirlz charms and beads. We also did some needle felting to add other fibres and small snips of chiffon etc. I was able to try out the Clover felting mat which is like a brush and the needle tool - the mat is much easier to use than the car sponge I was making do with so of course I had to buy one! I also got to have a go with an embellisher machine and fell in love! Where would I put one? When would I find the time to use it enough to make it worth the investment? What the heck, it's going on my Christmas list....