Finally a new work to show...

InUterine1 Vessel/Pouch
This is a theme piece I did for our annual Kindred Spirits holiday party. Each of us was to bring a gift to exchange and it was to be something from our own stash. One friend hinted that she might go to the "Knitty Womb" for funny inspiration. Since I have been comtemplating a series of InUterine vessels, pouches and figures, I found this to be a perfect opportunity.
My Kindred friends are mostly wool spinners and knitters. They are forever giving me colorful bits and pieces of wool and yarn, scraps from their projects, which I snatch up thankfully.
And we have ladies who own sheep and alpacas, so handdyed fibers are often available and I can purchase them at very fair prices. Virtually all of the fibers - batt and merino rovings - in this piece came from my Kindred's fiber inventory.
It was so much fun to felt this vessel/pouch and all the little surprises inside. It's the second piece I've let go of and the possibility of  selling my work is more appealing.

Oh sooooo terrible at blogging Update

I promised a change and still it hasn't happened. But I really have been working:
Doctor visits for my husband, my friend and myself. Steve's hearing and vision issues are being resolved, Susan's MS is unfortuantely much worse, and I've been diagnosed with complicated migraine syndrome and peripheral neuropathy. Simple things like thinking and moving are more difficult, but I can still do them thank goodness!
Grandchildren and now, gulp, two GREAT grandchildren - and cute little boys they are! But not nearly enough time is spent with them.
Daughter Michelle has a new best friend of the male variety and they are just moving into new digs and building a life together. Tween granddaughter Lexy says they are correctly called "domestic partners".
Raising our new best friend Rocky from a cute little 7-week old puppy to a 1-year-old rambunctious delight!
And okay, I confess, to having watched a few episodes of Ghost Hunters and Ice Road Truckers along the way.
I've been doing a little writing mostly short, short stories and poetic stuff and have a new "Critter Cam" hobby (will have more on that later on my other blog).
I'm felting vessels and character dolls and currently working on "Mary Elizabeth", a doll modeled after my great great grandmother. But not enough time is spent in studio. I vow every day to change that.

Unfortunately blogging, as you can see, is at the bottom of my list. The quality may suffer, but I WILL COME HERE MORE OFTEN! If I can find the time that is, smile.
Oh, almost forgot to mention, I still work two days a week.
My life is full and I am thankful!
God Bless and see you soon.

First vessel finds a good home

Several weeks after my friend Carol's husband passed away I gave her my first felted vessel. She grows beautiful orchids and had really expressed an interest in having it to put an orchid pot in and the combo turned out quite lovely I think.

As my very first vessel it wasn't up to the standard I want to achieve but she likes it and I'm proud it pleases her. It has found a good home.

Back to Felting & Blogging...At Last!

Life - health issues, family matters, etc. - has kept me away from this blog for much too long. But thanks to finally finding the right doctor I now have diagnosesis and appropriate medications and am feeling better. And with some of the family issues resolved I am able at last to resume felting and blogging about it.
It has really been a lovely spring in East Tennessee but now we're getting into a long hot summer . My studio is finally set up to where I can enjoy working in it and I am FELTING BETTER AGAIN! YAY!!!
My current project is a large handdyed wool and bamboo vessel, shown below at the soft felted stage and with slub yarn embellishments added. Today, I will finish the wet felting and fulling and am so excited! Soooo, let us go do that now!

Update, 9:21 p.m. - It's felted, fulled and drying. Can't wait to steam and shape it and add the finishing touches. Will upload more pictures then.

Update, Tuesday, July 5 - Gettin' there...a little more shaping to do, then shaving off the fuzzies to give it a little sheen, then adding beading and perhaps additional embelishments.

A sad time for our family...

We have lost a very dear friend who enriched out lives for 15 years. We will miss her crazy funny antics and her sweet, sweet smile! Go with love our pretty 'Jessie Girl'. We hope to see you at the Rainbow Bridge one day.

Shining at our lil' ole county fair

Getting a pat on the back every now and again feels pretty darn swell and even getting a blue ribbon or two at the local county fair strokes the old ego. In light of this I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to enter a couple things this year. And much to my delight both entries won blue.

Lily was looking pretty nifty in her new blue felted merino dress as she stood by her man Zeke. I entered them as a pair...that's how they wanted it.

And they looked so small in amongst the hooked rugs, counted crossstitch pictures, crocheted doilies, and numberous other needlework items. There are not many other needle felted pals in this neck of the woods and there wasn't a catagory for felted works at all so they competed in the general soft sculpted doll category.

On a lark, I also threw in my first and one and only (thus far) wet felted, silk cap on blended wool (merino and C-1) beaded vessel. Again, there was such a variety of crafted items in this catagory and no two were alike so it's hard to really judge how well an item placed. The judges had a difficult job...almost everthing entered was neat and interesting.

Creature Feature

Stepping outside the realm of normal again, I have been working on creature characters and VooDoo style dolls...
This guy doesn't yet have a name and I am not exactly sure what he is either...alien, dragon, vampire?

No pictures of the VooDoo dolls yet...not even sure if you will see them here...that's a whole 'nother story that may never be told.