Announcing: New Studio, New Blog

With a decent place to work now, I am extending my craft beyond the Familiar Others character dolls; have been learning the art of wet felting and am very much enjoying crafting wool vessels, hats and wall tapestries.  Please check out 'Wooly Hair Studio' at:

 http://woolyhair.blogspot.com/

Please note that I will be leaving this blog up with my previous works remaining here, rather than moving everything.
Thank you. And please keep checking back as I am a work in progress...as always.

Learning Curve Takes a Dip South

You could say this vessel is laden with mistakes.

This was my first attempt at making a 'pumpkin' vessel but I have certainly made other vessels, but in my own defense, not that many, three to be exact. But this one turned out bulky and heavy and it's simply because I forgot basic principles that should become innate for me soon.

 

Mistake #1: Layered the fibers too thick aound the resist.

Mistake #2: Put fiber layers in the wrong order causing the outer layer to be horizontal rather that vertical. Result: Couldn't apply pantyhose wraps without disturbing the fiber layers.

Mistake #3: Tried to correct mistake #2 by covering fiber with sheer curtain remnant so I could pull the pantyhose over the mass without disturbing the layers.

Mistake #4: Prefelted the vessel before discovering the sheer had acted as a 'resist' and created folds in the surface of the vessel. (Luckily this vessel is felted wrong side out so the folds are on the inside and I discovered the problem in time to remove the sheer so that the final wet felting stage somewhat corrected the folds issue.)

 

Anyway, not wanting to give up on this beautiful fall-colored fiber, I added the embellishing yarn around the top then finished felting and fulling the vessel, taking extra time and effort to try and get the walls thinner and more acceptable. This helped but it is still too bulky. Nothing to do about that now except add the bead embellishments. Those will be larger earthy looking beads rather than the delicate glass ones that I had in mind in the beginning. When finished, it will be an acceptable vessel for displaying little gourds or nuts or even small twists of roving in the studio. (I will take additional photos when it is finished.)

 



Happy Pumpkin Time! Felted of Course.

Well here I am back again. We have been through so much major 'drama' over the past year...but I'm not even going to go into that, not here, not now. It's just hard to believe I am finally getting to do some serious - and not so serious - felting again and actually have something completed to post here! Wow! Happy, Happy!

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.

Introducing "Miss Lily"

Finally I have finished my first female character and what a challenge she was! Who knew how much harder it would be to create a softer more feminine doll? And still there is much room for improvement, starting with a smaller nose. Sorry about that Miss Lily, but you are still a cutie to me...big nose and all!

Feisty Miss Lily likes fast cars and sunny beaches and is ready for both!

Miss Lily & Ezekiel hit it off immediately!

Party in the Playhouse?

Early yesterday morning I walked out to my "new" studio and made a startling discovery.

Over the past month or so I have been working hard on converting one of our storage buildings into a place where I can work on my felting projects without having art supplies strewn all over the house. Every artist needs a studio, right? But not everyone is fortunate enough to have such a space. I am very lucky. It's only about half finished - floors still bare wood, ceiling not finished, no air conditioning - but I have moved in and sorted all my fiber and other supplies where they are handy and within easy reach of my work station. No more digging through plastic bins trying to find the right fibers. Hurray! Also my dolls are out of their plastic confinement and displayed around me as I work. It is not beautiful or glamorous but it will do very nicely. Anyway, I digress. Back to yesterday morning...

I walked in and there was "Ezekiel" laid out in the middle of the floor, a good 3 feet away from his shelf. Then I discovered "Oliver" passed out, face down, clinging to the edge of his shelf. The "Moonshiner" was a bit red faced and seeing double.* The other characters were just where I had left them. But did I imagine that faint snickering sound all around the room?

I figure there may have been a big celebration  in "Granny's Playhouse Studio" the night before. After all,  it was their first Friday night out of confinement plus I had finally finished my first female character doll (excluding the little worry dolls) and she had joined the crew. "Lily" is a feisty little redhead who loves fast cars and sunny beaches. She likely caused quite a stir after I closed up for the day and left them to their own devices.

What fun they must have had!

*Just kidding about Moonshiner seeing double...playing around with Photoshop on that one. Rest is truth, I swear!

Ezekiel hit the floor...

Oliver hung on by a thread and Henry just grinned...

The Moonshiner saw double while Lily looked a little devilish...

In the end, all were a little embarrassed but doing okay...

Latest Find...Funky Old Hickory Nut Head Doll

It's no secret, my friends all know it, I am very addicted to "junk'n." Do I need help? Maybe an intervention? No, no, no. I can control this thing on my own, thank you. No, really I can!

It's true, I do love prowling through thrift stores, yard sales, and flea markets. And I used to buy anything and everything that caught my interest and "might be of use sometime." And that's exactly why I have a storage building full of stuff...some good old stuff and some not so good newer junk.

But in recent months I've narrowed my purchases down to only buying things I will actually use like kitchen gadgets, leftover bits of yarn, lace and ribbon, buttons and beads, etc. I also still have an affinity for old and small oddities and collectables. And of course I am always scouting for doll chairs and other props to use when displaying or photographing my needle felted characters.

Last week I paid just one dollar for this funky old hickory nut head doll in our local Habitat For Humanity thrift store.
She's about 6 inches tall and is really quite a study in contrasts - elegant in her beautiful lace and satin dress but quite haggard  and witchy in her face and stance.
One has to wonder why she is dressed to the ninths and if she made it to the ball (or her wedding) on time?

Kindred's Dye-In: Oh the Beautiful Colors!

A dozen or so "Kindred Spirits" met for our annual Dye-In at Ms. Peggy's house this past Thursday. We brought fibers of all sorts (mostly wool) and our hostess provided dyes of many colors. We had a great time - playing like little girls - painting, dunking, steaming and even microwaving until at last a rainbow of colored roving, batting and yarn hung on the clothes line drying. Lunch was potluck style and boy can we gals cook!

What a great and beautiful day it was down in the country on the Cumberland Plateau...good friends, good food, and beautiful fiber to work with...who could ask for more?

Thanks Peggy, for having us!

In The Top Photo: These silk caps, wool locks and wool/mohair yarn have been handdyed to coordinate with each other. My plan is to use them, along with C-1 and Merino, in making felted vessels. I will use the beads and buttons for embellishments.
Barb Keyes, of Lancing, TN, custom dyed the silk caps for me. I ordered a blend of turquoise, copper, rust, etc. and she nailed the colors beautifully. My goal at the Dye In was to dye small amounts of wool locks and yarn in a variety of coordinating colors to also use as embellishments on my pots. With the help of fellow Kindred Spirits I was able to pick the right colors and they will work perfectly, don’t you think? I am so excited to get started!

Applying dye to fiber...

Brewing fiber in a dye kettle...

Rolling painted fiber up in plastic wrap for steaming or microwaving...

Rinsing fiber...

Draining and inspecting the dyed fiber...

Hanging dyed fiber out to dry...

Relaxing and chatting with friends...

Having loads of fun!!!

Click here to see more "Dye Day" photos on Wool Tales' blog.