Felty Red Fox and a book review: Wee Felt Worlds

 I have been sitting on this book review for a couple of weeks, then surgery stuff went down and my world just went loco (I'll write more about that in another post soon)... So I'm happy to say that things have finally calmed down enough for me to tell you about some wee felty worlds that aren't so centered around my own!

The book review this time is on "Wee Felt Worlds: Sweet Little Scenes to Needle Felt" by Amanda Carestio. I'll tell you, so many cute things to make in this book, and from plenty of different artists with lots of different but all wonderful style. I already love Aimee Ray (you've got to have seen her work already, and if you haven't, you must), and was pleasantly surprised to see her contributing a little forest scene, complete with squirrel.

 Okay, now the book is filled with eye candy, but also really valuable tips for novice felters like me. The first few introductory pages that tell you about "the basics" of needle felting had me saying "Ohhhh, that's so smart!" at least once per page. I particularly appreciated the tips that tell you to use stuff around the house to make this art easier. Like using a little bamboo skewer to wrap felt around to make your tiny shapes, then sliding them off once they're formed. Now that I know this little gem, I won't be stabbing the heck out of myself when I need to make tiny shapes. Another tip that I loved was using pipe cleaners (or "chenille stems" if you're fancy) as a base so you can pose your figures once they're done. The picture above is of the pipecleaner skeleton before adding the felt outside.

I chose to try out using this method from Heide Murray's cute cute Circus scene.  There were instructions to make a Ringmaster Penguin, Strongman Lion, and Fire-Breathing Elephant, but I really wanted to make a fox, so I followed the armature method instructions to make the body and then went off to fox-town once it came to the details.

 Felting around pipecleaners is tricky business. You have to be really careful to not poke the wire, or your needle can break... It was tricky, but my fox ended up being oh-so pose-able with that pipecleaner skeleton. The book did a really great job of pointing out little tips and tricks on how to do things the right way. You can tell that the contributors actually have the experience and the illustrations of the techniques are SUPER.

Overall, I really, really liked this "Wee Felt Worlds" book. I learned my needle felting basics from YouTube, but I was able to get a ton more specialized knowledge about technique from this book without having a search a ton. It was all right there :) I'm sure there's much more to felting than what's in this book alone, but dang, the possibilities! I learned how I can make moveable bodies, jointed arms and legs, blend colors, make wire armatures... So much. I recommend. I think this is one that I would have considered buying even if I just saw it at the store or if it popped up in my "You might like..." feed on Amazon. I mean, the title has the word "wee" in it. You know me... Anyway... I hope everybody has a great week.

More crafts soon.


Thanks to Sterling Publishing for sending me a copy to review. 

Needle Felted Bird of Paradise with looong tail

 I looked out the window, and what did I see? This crazy bird hopping 'round my apricot tree! Well, it wasn't an apricot tree, and the bird wasn't hopping around, but that would have been fun. I made this little needle felted bird of paradise for myself on Sunday because I needed to make something for me to keep :) It's a gorgeous morning today in Alabama, so I decided to go outside and take some pics of my new birdy.

 Photogenic little chap, isn't he? 

He'll soon be roosting on my totally ornament-encrusted tree. I'll have to find a good spot for him.

The long pretty tail feathers are from an emu. I've been hiding them away for a long time (picked them up at the critter zoo a while back), and finally found them when I did a little organizing. It sure feels good to finally use some random supply you've been hoarding forever, doesn't it? 

At any rate, I am so excited for Christmas! And maybe Christmas orders will slow down a little and I'll have some time to go play Santa and deliver gifts and treats to my friends in town :)

Needle Felted Penguin in a Sweater

 My goodness gracious. I have been SO busy, and I get to count this blog post right here as a break, then I'm back to work. I am sharing this wee needle felted penguin wearing a colorful winter sweater.

 I was in another Craftster Swap (I'm swearing off of these for a few months, I need a break) and one of my partner's holiday themes was "Penguins in Colorful Clothing." If you know me, you can guess why I'd want to pick THAT theme. So for one of the items (more penguin items to come soon), I needle felted this penguin using beautiful wool sent to me by the lovely Belladune of SpinHeartSpin.

 His little jacket-vest is cut from a felted sweater I picked up at a thrift store fill-a-bag sale. I love those.

 And the clothing...is...optional... Tee hee. This is what penguin looks like au natural, sweater removed.

Meep meep meep (this is the sound that I imagine penguins make). He says "Merry Christmas."

Also, before I wrap up this blog post, I want to give a HUGE
THANK YOU
and several digital imaginary hugs to everyone who has taken time to leave me a kind comment or word of love or encouragement. It seems like tons of very happy or very sad or very busy things have come at me all at once lately, and I've been hanging on for dear life, getting by day by day. I haven't found the time to comment back to each of you, but please know that I have much much much love and appreciation for you guys.

Needle Felted Great Green Macaw

Somebody made me smile the other morning, so I made her a bird :) This little needle felted guy is a great green macaw, the kind of parrot I always imagine on a pirate's shoulder. I didn't make it super-detailed, but I think it turned out pretty cute anyway.

And here he is with the rest of my needle felted birdie gang. 

"Happy Tuesday, scallywags!"

Felted Sun Conure

 After finding Feltmeup Designs and treating myself to this sweet little felt Toucan, I was inspired to give 3D needle felting another go. My first attempt, I quit after making a blob. Silly me, I thought I could just figure it out, but this time around, I watched some vids on YouTube and actually made a REAL attempt. I'm pleased as punch! I made this teeny tiny replica of my sun conure, Peanut. 

 I didn't realize how SMALL of a piece of felt the fibers would become once it gets going with the felting. You start out with this big fluffy puff, then get a firmly packed little shape. Thus, the size of my little bird. It only turned out about 1.5 inches tall. 

 I cheated a little on the wings and used a little bit of yellow felt. I had stabbed myself quite a few times working with the tiny bits of wool, and I was getting a little tired.

 I think he has a kind of smug look to him, just like the real Peanut Button. Not bad for my first needle felted creature.

 Bahaha! When I showed it to Peanut, she was so scared. "What.... is....THAT?!"

 Testing...

It's no use, Peanut is endlessly suspicious of this little feltie doppelganger. 

I hope everyone is having a splendid week!