Browsed by
Tag: mixed media

Felting Around the Web

Felting Around the Web

Comments 5 comments

Felt Alongs Lamp/Vessel

Deborah’s March Doorstops

“Ordinary” Face by Mattie van den Heuvel

Felted Hand Puppets by Frauke Walder

Felted cords/ropes

http://anajskreativestagebuch.blogspot.com/2012/04/sowohlalsauch.html

Flextile’s Shibori Dragonfly

Deborah Schlegel’s Post of Kelsey V. Wiskirchen’s Thread Sketching Exhibit

Kay Susan’s Slow Cloth with TAST stitches and a second post about it

Louise Saxton’s Reclaimed Needlework

Paper Sculpture by Anna-wili Highfield

Fabric and button flower brooch tutorial

How to make an owl from felt pieces

Whitney Matalone’s Time Lapsed Video of the IKAT weaving process

What i’ve been up to !!!

What i’ve been up to !!!

Comments 10 comments

I really don’t have a huge amount to blog about at the moment, but I have added to my tree project in my mixed media course.  I”ve added some more stitching with some leaves and flowers  in straight stitches and French knots and I did try to be very clever and create a picot stitch, ( on the right up the trunk )  I haven’t done one of them before  but I want to do a vine going around and up the tree and in a 3d kind of effect,  so this is my first attempt at that stitch and while I thoroughly enjoyed how it works I will more than likely take those few out and re-do. That was just a bit of practise,  I’ve also added a spider web and the dreaded spider ( sorry zed )  he’s a friendly one lol.   I know that its out of proportion but that’s ok to !

I am really enjoying this and although nothing is perfect  and its not supposed to be, I’m loving how its all coming together.  I still need to add more foliage and I’m not really sure what to do with the background but it does need something, maybe a shrub or to in the far distants.   I’m just taking my time with this project and as things come to mind I’ll be adding them in !

 

I’ve also been working on another little note book cover , adding stitches and beads and I think I’m getting the hang of it more now.  I made this sheet of felt a while ago and I’m cutting it up to make 3 covers ,  can I tell you how hard it was to cut into that sheet lol  I struggled, held my breath, closed my eyes and made the first cut, let out a big breath and i’m OKAY !!!!

This one has lots of added silks, threads and sari ribbon !

This is the first of the 3, I’ve added stitches and beads and also a couple of my very own hand made beads.  I think I’m getting a lot neater as I go and the reason I’m doing these are all in practise for my so called album cover that I still haven’t picked up again lol   Once I feel that these covers are good enough I might even put them on Etsy lol   it’s a  long shot but we’ll see  🙂  otherwise i’ll save them for gifts !

I havent added any stitches on the back and i’m not sure i will either, I’m fairly happy with the way this turned out and i can only improve “right”

So thats it for me and i’d love to see what everyone else is working on !!!

Busy Times

Busy Times

Comments 7 comments

Sorry I haven’t been able to post in a couple of weeks, we’ve been very busy with Family and friend commitments, weddings, engagements and 50th birthdays.  I’m so glad its all over now and we can get back to normality, plus I’m partied out and pooped lol

The only thing I’ve been able to keep up with is the weekly TAST and I don’t want to get behind in that as it’ll end up being a lot to make up for.

I am behind in my course with Victoria but as its an online course this one is able to be done at leisure and I’ll always have it, which is great. This time  we had to do some pages in a book and as I’m not a really big fan of altered books I’ve used some pages just to play and i’ve used  calico and a couple of canvas’s.  The pages are so far done using acrylic paints, pressed flowers and stamps made from leaves, you can see that I’m not very good at the stamping bits lol  But I am still having fun so that’s the main things

The next one is on canvas and using water color pencils and painting with coffee, of all things, lucky I bought a jar that we really don’t like so I’ll keep that for this use.  I still have a lot of stitching to do on this but at least its a start.

I do prefer to work on calico so this is my tree. This is done using acrylic paints and coffee again. Victoria uses memory thread which I don’t have ( YET) so  for the main area of the tree I used the 6 strands of thread and the rest is using 3 strands, I still have a fair bit to do on this as it needs flowers, bugs and spiders. The foliage is her thread salad stitch which I really like and can be used for a lot of fill in work and more foliage.

 

Then to go completely off topic ( sorry) I wanted to show you the Smoker that my Hubby made for the 50th birthday present. It works like a charm and our friend loved it.  Darren loved making it so much he now wants to get into some Blacksmithing and his brother is a true artist in this field. If you ever see the new movie I Frankenstien  then look out for the shackles and cuffs as  they were made by my very talented brother in-law , who by the way suffers from MS and he keep himself very busy forging and creating all kinds of art work and engraving.

 

And last but by no means least is my gorgeous Granddaughter Charlie, we’ve been helping out while mum does a little part time job that she loves. She’s such a little sweetheart, at 7 weeks old she’s  full of smiles and a very contented baby. Were all so in love xo

 

So till next time Happy Felting and Stitching or whatever it is you love to do xo

Beading & Felting

Beading & Felting

Comments 11 comments

Beading and Felting

I know there are some spectacular bead artists out there and this week I thought I’d try my hand at some beading, I’ve been following Robin Atkins blog called Bead Lust

http://beadlust.blogspot.com.au/

 Her work is so beautiful. I’ve never really wanted to learn about beading before but since getting into more of the mixed media side of things it’s made me more interested in the beading process, of course not on the scale of Robins though , just enough to try to work into my pieces.  Robin has been beading for a long time and she has written a couple of books, she has now put out her first book as a free book for anyone to read, so since I was following along I thought I’d take the time to read it.  She explains her methods of beading and basically works free hand with no pre conceived ideas, or nothing set in stone.  So having read that I thought I’d give a small piece a go, mind you I don’t have thousands of beads to choose from so I started this little one with one of Zed’s hand made buttons and went from there.

It definitely helped to read her book as I was under the impression that I should have some sort of design in mind before I started, but I actually found it so much easier not to.  This is only a small piece I know but reading her book  gave me the courage to have a go !!

I’ve also made a couple of small note book covers, inspired by Zed once again, and I wanted to  do something else with my flat pieces of felt and not just wall hangings.  The first cut was the hardest I must admit, spending all that time rubbing and rolling the felt only to cut it up in the end. These 2 covers were made with the one piece and then cut in half so I had the 2 different colours in each cover.

I then embellished with embroidery stitches learned from the TAST 2012, so I used Blanket, Fly & Cretan stitches and then added some beads in too.

I did not have any success with creating skeleton leaves so we’ll leave that for another day lol

I hope everyone’s had a productive week and I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to.

Whats on my Table

Whats on my Table

Comments 17 comments

My Nightmare Album

 Yes that is what its been,  but I’m determined to get this finished if it’s the last thing I do lol

I started out with a nice size piece of felt that I made especially for this project.  It’s to be an Album cover to give to my Daughter In-laws mum on the birth of our very first Grandchild,  a little girl called Charlie.  She’s so divine but I better not start talking about her or I wont actually get to my project  !!!

So I had this idea in my head of creating a nice design ( not flowery or girly) but just something different that I could add lots of stitching and beads to and then adding in either her name (Charlie) or stitching something like “my first grandchild”  on the front.  It seems that everything I did to it just wasn’t right and this is the first pic to show where I was trying to go at the very start.

Well I didn’t like it at all, in fact I hated it. I shouldn’t have put the orange seed beads on and the whole design was way off,  no amount of work was going to make me like it and I just couldn’t move on.  So I painstakingly unpicked every single bead and most of the stitches and started in a new direction.

Unfortunately I didn’t like the way this was going either, so again I took out all the stitches, they were all French knots!  Have you tried unpicking them without ruining your felt? I had to be very careful and  you don’t think I was getting pretty frustrated by this stage!  Well, yes and no, I just wanted to kept going. I changed the mauve coloured thread to green,  and removed the mess down the bottom, which was supposed to be kinda of like a starbust that didn’t quite get there.

I am actually starting to like it more now so to date, this is what it’s like. I’ve decided I’m not going to touch it or even look at it for at least a week  so I can come back and tackle it with some fresh eyes.

I’m glad I changed the mauve thread to green, I think it suits much better. I like the little seed beads over the fly stitch, (thank goodness for TAST ) lol , I’m going to take out the word Charlie and make that bigger so its stands out more ( it’s a bit hard to see her name at first glance )  but I didn’t want any one thing to overpower anything else.  I hope that all makes sense and if anyone has any ideas, I’ll be happy for the input. This is the largest detailed piece I’ve started working on and when you have one idea in your head but cant quite get it down on paper ( so to speak) It makes for a very frustrating time.

Having said all that, I’m really loving the fact that  if you don’t like something, take it off and start again and hopefully this Nightmare Album will turn into something to treasure, its certainly has my heart poured into it and all for a Very Good Cause,  Charlie  xo

 

My Year in 2012

My Year in 2012

Comments 6 comments

My Brand New  2012

What an awesome start to our year with the birth of our very first Grandchild, a girl called Charlie,   this will set the good vibes rolling throughout the year and I know its going to be amazing

Following Ruth, I haven’t made a resolution but I’ve decided on a word instead, I’ve been trying to think of  one  that will set my scene for the year and I’ve written down  5

Change, Trust, Adventure, Belief  & Willingness

I’ve spent the last year or more being  kind of suspended ,  I have had a bit to deal with in the later part of 2011  but I was still not really believing that I have what it takes to follow my dreams.  Not being able to trust  that I could really begin my adventure into the world of  Felting and Fibre Art but working on the new Studio Site with my friends has made me realize that if i have the willingness  to change my way of thinking,  I can do anything.

So my word for 2012 is  Willingness and no matter what I try , my Willingness to learn and focus will be foremost in my mind and my work,  I guess I could have chosen any one of those 5 words as they all have a meaning for me ,  but,  without the Willingness  to Believe, Trust and Change then I’ll have no Adventure at all !

So with my Adrenaline Running on Willingness  I would like my 2012 to be one of creativity,  to learn and share and be the best person I can be.

  • I’ll be giving much more attention to The Studio Site and our Virtual  Forum
  • I’ll be starting a 6 week online course with Victoria Crowder Payne in Feb called the Mixed Media Stitch Journal
  • I’ve already started working on Take a Stitch Tuesday  and creating my very own book of  stitches
  • I’ll be working on some embellished Journal Covers and Wall Hangings
  • I’ll be getting to know more about Fibres and making up some sample pieces as well as laying out my favorite fibres to use in mixed media  backgrounds
  • I’ll be practicing  more on creating better textile beads
  • I’ll be working harder on my Etsy Store and adding more items to that
  • I’ll spend less time on the computer and more time at my work table
  • And I’ll also be spending time Babysitting my Beautiful Brand New Granddaughter !

Small steps I know compared to most but I’m happy and im healthy

So am I wearing my Willingness Hat ?

YES I AM  !!!!!!

Felting Around the Web

Felting Around the Web

Comments 2 comments

Felt Along’s Wool Furry Vessel

VunoRad’s New Blog with Wool Paintings (see galleries)

Felted drawstring skirt

Barbara Trafficonte’s Needle Felted Santas

Jagusia’s Felted Tree Ornaments

Christy’s Needlefelted Embellishments on Knit/Fulled Bags, Mittens and Hats

Free Vintage Knitting patterns

Feather and Fan Comfort Shawl

Knitted Pinwheel purse

Crocheted animal sculptures

Crocheted Rope Basket

Chad Alice Hagen’s Stitched Felt Pieces

Annie and Lyn’s Stitched Felt

Interactive Jellyfish Swarm – Origami

New Felting and Fiber Forum

New Felting and Fiber Forum

Comments 1 comment

When we started working on this website/blog, one thing we were all really keen on was having interaction with likeminded people, sharing our enthusiasm for felt and fibres with others and helping each other out.
The website is a great way for us to share and connect with others, but it does have its limitations…So, we started working on building a forum. Now we have a place where we can have more interaction, where anyone can start topics, ask questions, get help and support from a wide community, share great photos, advice and info, meet friends and have fun! 

We’d love it if you came and joined us at the Felting and Fiber Studio Forum, and shared your enthusiasm, curiosity, knowledge and photos. Whether your interests are felting, mixed media, spinning, weaving, freeform crochet or something we probably haven’t heard of and need to see, we’d love for you to be involved in our new community 🙂

To register, just follow the link at the bottom of this post, or click the Forum button in the side bar. Once you’ve registered, we just have to ‘approve’ you… don’t worry, it’s just a measure to keep spammers out 🙂

http://feltandfiberstudio.proboards.com/

Just Introducing Myself

Just Introducing Myself

Comments 7 comments

Hello my name is Karen and I live in the Coastal Town of Phillip Island in Victoria, Australia

I call myself a practicing fibre artist because I am fairly new and still have a lot to learn.  I only discovered felting in 2008 and I’ve fallen in love with anything to do with fibre and felting. My collection and knowledge are growing every day and I’m so happy to be a part of this team of extremely talented ladies.

Felting  3, 2, 1

Q-3  Three types of fibre you can’t live without!

My favourite fibre I’m using at the moment is a blend of merino and blue faced  Leicester, it’s an absolute  dream to work with and the colors are amazing,  I use it for all my background  layouts.  I also enjoy working with Romney Fibre as I find it nice and strong , but soft and luscious

Q-2  Two tools you use all the time!

I’m not sure I’d call them tools but I can’t live without bubble wrap and my trusty wooden dowel because without them it would be very hard to create a nice strong sheet of felt.

Q-1  One fibre art technique you love the most!  

I’m concentrating on mixed media right now as I love how you can incorporate lots of different mediums into one piece like all different sorts of fibres, beads, threads, sequins, yarn . I think the possibilities are endless !

I’m in my element and I’m looking forward to this new adventure with my Fabulous Felting  Friends who’s generosity and encouragement have meant the absolute world to me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

New Album Cover

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a sneak peek at my newest WIP. Its going to be an album cover for my Daughter In-laws mum to give to her for the birth of OUR first grandchild in approx 5 weeks time !! The white stitching is just the outline blocks so i stitch inbetween them with my pattern.  I’ll hopefully be able to show more of this piece in my next post 🙂