mixed media – Page 5 – Felting and Fiber Studio

Beyond Nuno Giveaway Winner…and about the Studio Site

March 4, 2013 zedster66 Comments 19 comments

The Winner of the Beyond Nuno Giveaway is … Wendy who commented on February 25th. Congratulations, Wendy 🙂 Please will you leave a comment on this post so I can email you with the download details, Thanks 🙂 Thanks a lot for entering and for leaving such nice comments, everyone 🙂

A Guide to The Felting and Fiber Studio Site

We’ve had a lot of new visitors to the Studio site recently, and lots of new members on the forum, so I thought it might be time to do a reminder about everything we have to offer here on the Studio site. Before we started the blog just over a year ago, the four of us spent about 6 weeks working on the site, filling it with as much info as we could. We wanted to build the site into a valuable ‘One-Stop’ resource for anyone interested in felting and fibre.

The ‘About Us’ page tells you a little bit about why we started the Studio site, and there are sub pages for each of us with some info about ourselves and our interests.

In the Felting section there’s a short introduction about the many different kinds of felting. The main pages for Machine, Needle, Nuno and Wet felting all have more in-depth information, and each has a gallery page with many different examples of that particular type of felting.

Mixed media simply means artwork that is made with more than one medium, but for the purpose of the site we use it to mean artwork made mainly with felt or fabric combined with other materials. This section features pages about Beads and Beading, Hand Stitching, Machine Stitching and Surface Design. Each page’s gallery features many examples of artwork.

The Fibers section is packed full of information about wool and other animal fibres. The main Fibers page explains some of the different terms that are used to describe wool in its various stages of processing. The Wool and Other Animal Fibers page has a lot of information about wool, animal fibres from animals such as Alpaca, Angora goat, Llama and Camel. There is also an explanation of the Micron and Bradford Count systems of measuring a fibre’s fineness or coarseness; and a PDF guide to the most common sheep breeds and their Bradford and Micron numbers. The gallery page features photos of different animal fibres. Preparing Fibers has a guide to processing your own wool, from washing a raw fleece to carding it into fluffy batts ready for felting or spinning. There is a photo set and detailed description.

The Other Fibers section has lots of information about the non animal fibres we commonly use in felting, such as silk and organza fabrics; fibre prepared into tops like bamboo, banana, viscose, and the more unusual fibres like crimped nylon, plastic and Angelina fibres.

The Silk page shows the many different silk products available, for example, silk carrier rods, silk hankies and silk throwster’s waste and the gallery page features many uses of these. The Man-made fibers page and its gallery have examples of fibres and their uses including commercial art yarns and some nuno felt examples with synthetic fabrics. The Plant Based Fibers page has many examples of these gorgeous luxurious fibres and felted pieces using them.

The Tutorials section is another area with a wealth of information. There are free Dyeing, Felting, Fiber preparation and Mixed media tutorials all written by one of us, including a video on how to make your own roving using a diz, PDFs on Degumming silk and dyeing it; Stitching on felt, making mixed media wall art, using a sander for wet-felting, a beginners guide to using a drop spindle and dyeing with food colouring.

And if you can’t find what you want there, there are also links to outside sites in the Links/Resources section, including rosiepink’s free felting tutorials and their fantastic e-book showing how to make amazing felt artwork and Ruth’s book The Complete Photo Guide To Felting.

So, make yourself comfortable and come and have a look around the site. We’re always happy to read comments and listen to suggestions for adding more to the site, or to requests for articles or tutorials. Maybe you are a fibre artist with an interesting skill that would make a great feature or you’d like us to link to a tutorial, if you have anything felt or fibre related you want to tell us about, we’d love to hear about it 🙂

New Blog

February 28, 2013 Comments 10 comments

Well i know i mentioned this on the forum but as i’ve havent done much else but try to get into my blog ive finally given it up and started making a new one. I’m actually quite happy to be doing this as i’ve had so much trouble in the past that i believe someone or something was trying to tell me something . Get a new Blog, so i have !! New Blog for New Creations and of course a New Name, although maybe i should have not stayed with blogger ??? we’ll see what happens ,

I’d love for you to take a look although its not finished yet and i’d be more than happy if you added yourselves to my friends list and followed along, i’m slowly adding in the blogs i’ve been following but thats going to take some time as i did have a lot !!!!

I dont have any show and tell other than this right now but i did just want to apologise to my blogging friends, i wasnt ignoring anyone i just couldnt work my blog, i’ve also had a pretty sick hubby but after a little spell in hospital is doing really well and back at work, fingers crossed he stays that way 🙂

Oh i almost forgot, its a bit bright so before you click, better grab your sunny’s lol Well i needed some color !!!

http://fibrenmixedmedia.blogspot.com.au/

The Felting and Fiber Forum

February 26, 2013 zedster66 Comments 15 comments

I’ve had a lot of really nice comments and support recently since I published my book. One thing I noticed from the comments on the giveaway was how many people are fairly new to felting or in particular nuno felting, and would love to learn more. Buying a book can certainly be a good way, and most of us have probably learned most of what we know through trial and error, but another good way is learning from each other… and other people’s trial and error 🙂

A great place to do this is a forum. A little over a year ago we posted about starting The Felting and Fiber Forum. We said how we really wanted more interaction with like-minded people to share our enthusiasm for felt, fabric and fibres. We hoped we would get a few members and get to see what people are working on and share tips and get advice. I don’t think I’m alone in feeling that it is far more than that. The forum is somewhere I really look forward to logging onto each morning, to see what new projects everyone is working on, see if there are new replies to posts asking for advice, reading about what new crafts or techniques have caught someone’s eye, finding out what the weather is like all around the world! (We get a lot of weather!) 🙂 I was going to say that it really has grown into a great community of fibre artists from all over the globe, but we’re not just members, we’re friends.

It’d be really nice if we had even more artists in our community. I’ve been clicking to look at the blogs of recent commentors and there is such a wealth of talent, not just in felting, but all kinds of fibre art, mixed media, stitching and more. I know I’m not the only one who would be interested to know more about a wider range of fabric and fibre arts. And there are lots of members of the forum who would be more than happy to offer help, advice and support to those just starting out on their felting adventures. We even have a 12 step program for fibre addicts (1. Buy more fibre. 2. Buy more fibre 3…. Just kidding!)

The forum is open to everyone, just follow the link at the bottom of this post or click the forum button on the sidebar. Once you’ve registered, we just have to ‘approve’ you… don’t worry, it’s just a measure to keep spammers out 🙂 The forum is free, which means it does get advert banners, but no one likes a forum full of annoying adverts, so…. we have a novel way of dealing with that… for $7 per month we can make the forum ad-free, so we replace the advert banner with one sponsored by our members which also redirects to their site. If you are interested just let us know. You don’t even have to be a member of the forum if you’d just like to support it while promoting your own blog, etsy store, website etc. but we would love it if you’d come over and join us 🙂

http://feltandfiberstudio.proboards.com/

Around the web

February 16, 2013 Shepherdessann Comments 3 comments

http://www.megacrafty.com/2011/09/tip-easy-way-to-make-felted-balls.html

Inger’s Watermelon Slippers

http://thatfuzzyfeelingsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/my-new-sewing-machine-progress-report.html

Chain Stitched Jupiter Embroidery

Mr. Finch’s Stitched Moths, Animals and Other Insects

Knotted Feather Stitch Elephant

http://www.liveinternet.ru/users/2964668/post113681387/ mostly Russian distaffs

New Year, New Work

January 29, 2013 Comments 12 comments

Well we had such a bad year last year that i’m glad its all behind us now and we can move onwards and upwards

So here we go !!

I’ve been taking on board Ruths challenge and thoroughly enjoying myself but doing something a bit different. I have been crafting ever since i can remember and always love having something on the go, ever since i found felting i really did fall in love and still am but i have this mental block with it and cant seem to get my act together to make something that i really like. So i’m having a little break from actual felting and moving on to something else for a while, i’ll still be incorporating fibre and felt into things but i think its best if i stop trying and wait till it wants to come naturally lol

So having said that and as much as i love crafting i’ve never been into Altered books, with Ruths challenge i wanted something that i could do in small or large doses and include lots of mixed media, i.e fibres , silks ,beads ect, There are some beautiful Altered books out there but i havent found anything like what i’m doing so i can honestly say these are coming from my head, good or bad lol And about 20 years ago i used to make something similar to these and sell them at a market stall, by the masses lol i thought i’d give them another go but add lots more of what i’m doing now into them. I had a stack of note books ready to make covers for and i’m turning them into my little motivational altered books, yes they are a bit different but i’m having a great time.

Here are a few i’m playing with, i’m still not sure if there quite finished but i’m showing you anyway. They start of course with a note book ! then paverpoled, painted and lots added , they take about 2-3 days to make one with all the added embellishments, paint ect, and lots of drying time so its been fun to get a sort of production line going, and its keeping me entertained.

These first couple have adding beads, silk threads, sari silk ribbon, angelina, felt and touched over with shiva sticks , i made flowers from some light weight material and added them in and a few words of inspiration. I hope you dont mind all the pics, there quite hard to photograph so you can see properly !

Silk Paper back, in hindsight i shouldnt have used the silk paper on the back as your not going to be able to see it much unless you pick up the book, but i really like how the silk came out hardened.

2book2

This next one ( i do have 6 on the go ) lol i wanted to try some tyvek on the back and melt it down, when i put the first layer on i had to use glue to hold it and when i hit it with the heat gun it just would not melt at all, so i added another layer straight over the top and used heat to fuse it together, it worked then but i learnt that once tyvek has glue on it will only melt the tiniest little bit. This first pic is after glueing and i forgot to take a pic before i added more tyvek and sprayed

3book1

But it gave a huge amount of texture and its now black, the gold was just way to much for me !!

Plain black first to the front

Then the added tyvek and paint

i also discovered that i can use the tyvek to make a lace work ( of sorts ) i think it would be great for making cobwebs.

I might have gone a bit overboard with the lace on this one, but everyone here likes it best lol

3book5

So this is what i’ve been up to and i definitely feel back in my comfort zone, The next one has more felt and fibres, angelina and beads but its not finished yet. I love the fact that as there all done in stages i can have quite a few going at once.

What do you think, i’d appreciate any feedback on these, but remember its only the first few, i’ll improve as i go along lol And Thankyou Ruth if it wasnt for your challenge i’d still be scratching my head over some felting 🙂

around the web

January 13, 2013 Shepherdessann Comments 4 comments

http://www.peaceindustry.com/page.php

Recycled Knits and Fabrics combined with Felt Scarf by Sassafras Design

Heather’s Red and Yellow Scarves

http://mjuliarossi.blogspot.ca/

Have you been following Liz’s journey with her students for Holocaust Memorial Day?

http://www.feltinhand.com/gallery.htm

http://woollove-functional-fiberart.blogspot.ca/2013/01/under-big-top-scarf-part-1-of-2.html

http://vimeo.com/54243073

http://www.wendyfeldberg.ca/galleries.html

Nell’s Textile Art Gallery

Simple Directions for Covering a Lamp Shade with Felt

Acrylic Leaf Printing for your Art Journal Pages

Shrunken Books Tutorial from Maggie Grey

http://cornit-felt.blogspot.ca/2012/06/about-our-roses.html

http://wendyfe.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/eco-prints-to-start-the-year/

Looking Forward into 2013

January 3, 2013 Shepherdessann Comments 19 comments

Like last year I chose not to make a resolution per say but to choose a word. I could easily make the usual resolutions that would be good for me like loosing weight and getting more aerobic exercise. Although these would be good things to do I know they are not likely to get done. I like to eat and I hate exercise. A resolution to make myself miserable is not one I want to make.

This year I chose two words that go together. Explore and Perseverance.

I want to do more “art”. I want to do this with felt. I love to make scarves and hats and other useful things but I would like to make things that are just to look at. Thread painting and free motion embroidery are one of the ways I plan to do this. I love the way stitching looks on felt. So I want to explore some of the possibilities of this to make pictures to hang on the wall and maybe later to wear. This is where perseverance comes in . It will take much effort in my busy life to do this. Not only to find time for felting but to find time to do felt that doesn’t have a material end. I find it hard to make things that won’t generate income. I want an end product some one might want to buy. I am getting better at doing things for my sanity with no “real” benefit. I anticipate much self talk about not thinking about the end product but enjoying learning how and being creative. You know, all that stuff about it’s the journey and not the destination.

I am sure I will be distracted along the way but that’s OK. I am an older ADD person. I am from the generation where they told you to smarten up and buckle down and your just not trying. It’s taken a long time to come to terms with. This is the way I am and it is a good way to be. I have insatiable curiosity so I like to look down all the side streets( allies, paths, through the door, over the fence….) along the way. It takes longer to get to the end of the road but it is a much more satisfying trip.

I hope you find what you are looking for this coming year and I hope you enjoy hearing about how we are getting along and what we are doing through this Blog and our Forum.

Around the Web

December 14, 2012 ruthlane Comments 10 comments

I hope you are all staying sane in the madness around the holidays. Here are a few fun things I’ve found around the web this week. I hope you enjoy them. The list is a bit short as I’ve been busy with lots of holiday stuff at the store 🙂

Giggle with the Goats

Free Downloadable Labels from Alisa Burke

Felted Calendar Covers by Jana

DIY Cat Toys by Design Sponge

Eyeglass Case to Sewing Kit by Tea Rose Home

Betz White’s Appliqued Felt Christmas Scenes

And the Winner is… Plus Felting Around the Web

August 24, 2012 ruthlane Comments 6 comments

I know you’ve all been waiting on pins and needles to see who won the book give away for The Complete Photo Guide to Felting. I used a random number generator. There were 58 entries and the number chosen was 49. That number corresponded to Linda Whitmore’s comment. Linda, please e-mail me your snail mail address to info at purplepomegranate dot com (I spelled it all out to avoid spammers, but write it like a regular e-mail address). Linda, I need to hear from you within 48 hours. If I haven’t gotten your response by that time, I will re-draw for another winner. I want to get the book in the mail to you by Monday at the latest. Thanks to everyone who entered the give away. I wish I had 58 books to give away so each of you could have one. It’s nice to hear from everyone, I hope you’ll comment on our regular posts more often too. 🙂

And just to make this post a bit more interesting, I have included some fun stuff I’ve found around the web in the last couple of weeks.