Thursday, December 2, 2010

Christmas Tree Angel/Fairy


I took one of my kids baby blankets and cut a small hole in it, about a inch and a half. I sewed the doll head in and added arms by also making tiny cuts in the blanket and sewing the hands in. I had these two beautiful white feathers that a good friend gave me years ago and so they finally got a greater purpose. Wings. My son said he was very upset that the angel doesn't have a magic wand....I am working on it! I took some cotton pipe cleaner and wrapped it with that shiny fiber stuff (sold for needle felting in wool) for the halo.

Lumpy Snake



Christmas is coming! Time to make gifts. This is a snake I made some time ago out of old knee high socks that all had holes. You could easily find socks at a thrift store or free box. Just cut off the foot part and sew them together, I stuffed the inside as I went.
Another way is to crochet or knit in a round all your left over ends and scraps. When we have a party with tons of kids it is almost certain that their will be about 4 to 5 little ones training Lumpy all over the place!

Doll making class




I just finished a doll making class with a local waldorf pre-school teacher and doll maker. I was so surprised to see how my boys took to these babies. They are so cute with them! One day I was expecting to find them getting into something, because they were so quiet. I walked into the room and they both had all the blankets and pillows around them holding their baby with the calmest sweetest looks on their faces. It went on for long enough to do the dishes, wow!
It is such a wonderful thing to appreciate people getting together and doing handwork, especially when it's for a child. I am so glad to be in such a community.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Beginning A New!

We have all moved away from the South West just in time! Our allergies are gone and salt water back into our bones.
I have a new office/studio and can't wait to start creating new stuff. As winter approaches, the candles will light and work will begin. Blessings while we all store our nuts for the winter.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Daisy Gnome


Here is a little Daisy Gnome, I sold her quite some time ago at a craft fair. I hope she is well wherever she is. She is all Needle felted wool.

Birthday Crown




Waldorf style birthdays usually have a birthday crown and I had seen several. So, this year I made one for my sons. Each match but are different colors. Zane's Birthday comes first so here are his pics, next will be David in his green one. They are made out of wool felt and then I embroidered the Zia symbol on them (the Zia symbol is the New Mexico State symbol) to tell where they were born. I got this idea from a fellow friend and crafter. I was going to put their zodiac symbol and more things on them too, but they looked so simple and beautiful like this, plus who has the time to embroider a ram and a bull? I did make them adjustable, each year I'll just put a different size elastic through... so they can wear them til' they are 18.... hee heee hee. I sewed a cotton back to them, so as to not itch and cover up the underside of the embroidery. Oh, and I guess I should mention it is all hand sewn without machine.
Eventually it would be nice to embroider their birth date and time on the inside with their names.

Needle Felted Bunnies




I made this tiny little bunny for my mom's friend who makes miniatures etc. I have never before needle felted anything this small (the size of an egg), it was much harder than doing it larger. It came out so cute, we ordered the miniature baskets from Magic Cabin and used this one for the itsy bisty colored wool eggs. Also the other bunny I made for my sons for Easter.
Here comes Peter Cottontail!

Easter Tree




My son made this tree in his pre-school. It is the most beautiful thing for the table at Easter/Spring. His teachers made the precious little chicks out of wool, which he named piou piou for the sound they make.

leaves sweater




I finally finished this sweater. I started it 2 years ago, took it apart three times and drove myself a bit more crazy. This pattern comes out of the Crochet Me book. Important! There is errata in this pattern and you have to get on the internet and find the corrections! I used some #2 wool superwashed yarn from knit picks and an E hook to get the gauge right. It needs to be washed and ironed, but it is done. Just in time for this spring fairy to do a little song and dance.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

oops gnome hat?



Ok, I was using this wool that works great to needle felt. I soon found out that it sort of sucks to wet felt, it was smoshy and spongey. I was attempting to wet felt a fairy pod roof and this what happened. Zane was playing with it and lightbulb! I should really get some better wet felting wool and make some kid and grown up crazy woodland gnome hats! Don't ya think?

spring fairies


Glued and sewed wool felt around this wooden base people make wonderful spring/Easter fairies. The hair I used multi colored mohair yarn and crocheted each a little cap, that is glued on. Then last but not least I cut and sewed little fairy wings. They are the sweetest!

Upcycling because of clothing exchange



I went to a awesome clothing exchange/party recently. A good friend brought a old sweater to give to me thinking I could make something out of it. The sweater was sentimental to her and she'd had it since high school. I thought it was so cool to have that close bond with a piece of clothing. I started to think about if I had similar feelings about clothes. I did! and not so surprising all of which were made out of natural fibers! There is a connection to the earth in natural fiber. Sun to grass to sheep to wool to your favorite sweater. Plus, all the wonderful memories associated with that sweater... color, smells, the woolly feel.

Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value.

Also, at this clothing exchange was a wonderful woman who truly understands the essence of natural fiber. She collects natural fiber clothing that is put in the 'free boxes' at our local dumps. Violette Alby makes amazing improvisational quilts with the old clothes and was telling me about teaching a group on young teens how to quilt at her rural library. This is her website which just recently got up and running. http://earthmothersofinvention.net

Anyway, all of this inspired these braclets and necklaces. Lucky for me that my first up-cycled sweater was green and with spring around the corner I couldn't help making leaves. I cut the cuffs off and cut up some leaves and started hand sewing them on, being careful to leave some give in the thread for the cuffs to stretch. I cut the collar off the sweater and hello! the perfect necklace. On the other necklace I used a alpaca sweater and cut the design around the collar (it's a bit itchy, so a turtle neck with this would work nice).

One more thought about the clothing exchange. It was a potluck with wine, a fire and lots of good friends of mixed ages. Each person stood up and advertised there clothes, when a person wanted a item they just yelled "I want it" or they jumped up or affectionately fought over it. At times this display was very humorous. The clothes no one wanted were put in a pile in the middle of the room, which was free game for everyone. These were all nice clothes, I came with a bunch of nice clothes that I wore after my pregnancy and left with a bunch of nice clothes that fit! No Money exchanged at all! It was tons of fun. At the end the quiltmaker and another lady Jean Nichols who makes upcycled clothes went through the pile, only after that was the rest taken to the free box at the dump.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Valentines Fairies




I made these little fairies for my sons school. Each child takes one home and several of the parents and teachers each made some too! They have cotton pipe cleaners on the inside with wool roving rapped around the outside, then needle felted. They are awesome cause they bend.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Wool roving braided rug




I bought some wool roving which didn't wet felt or needle felt good. It was probably good for spinning which I don't do. Not yet anyway! So, I was bummed but shortly after I went to the wool festival in Taos, New Mexico and a woman had braided rugs made with wool roving. Wow, I had made a couple of rugs by collecting scrap wool fabric, they took forever! Well, it took 2 years to finish a small round rug. Unfortunately, we had a leek in the pipes and it got wet, so we put it out on our fence to dry. Our fence faces a Catholic church parking lot and after church it was gone. I still get broken hearted when I think about it. Not sewing the strands together and just overlapping and braiding the roving as I went, this rug in about 4 hours. I have these awesome needles that I inherited from my Great Grandmother May. I think they may be for shoes or leather. I used this one for sewing the rug together it worked great. I may make it bigger and add on more roving when I can afford it. I was surprised at how sturdy it turned out.
I am thinking that it might be cool to make a big chunky rug by using a huge crochet hook with roving. Oh, and I could also felt it too. How soft that would be!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Wood toys




I made these chairs for my sons gnomes. They were real easy, just slices of branches, a few drilled holes and some glue. The bottom seat part is apricot and the back part is elm. The mommy gnome is carved out of aspen, which is very easy and soft to carve. The Daddy and Mommy are made out of choke cherry wood, which I would not recommend using, it is very hard and I cut myself way too many times even with my leather gloves on. This year we called the Daddy and Mommy, King Winter and Queen Winter.

Bob's sweater


Hey hey I finally finished it. It was crazy with my 3 1/2 year old taking the yarn every chance he'd get and playing spider web with it. Not to mention the removal of the stitch markers constantly, which he thought were bugs caught in the web. I am not sure if I'll crochet another sweater until my boys are a bit older. He He I got the pattern from the winter Interweave crochet magazine. I used Berroco vintage wool yarn. I hand sewed the zipper on before I used the sewing machine, so it wouldn't move all over the place and it made it much easier.

wool bracelets



I crocheted these bracelets as an experiment. I need to try them on a bunch of people cause I am not sure how they will fit everybody, since I sized it to myself. Maybe I need to put clasps on them? One thing I did learn was that if I am going to put them in the dryer to felt them to use a garment bag or pillow case. The green leaf bracelet felted into the yarn some of the dryer lint and I couldn't get it out. To fit good around my wrist I used 35 single crochet with worsted weight yarn.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Totoro!





I crocheted this Totoro for my son Davey, he loves holding on to the ears...I stuffed it with wool and makes a cozy pillow too.
Here is where I got the pattern. http://heavens-hellcat.livejournal.com/420.html

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Pocket Fairy Necklaces





Thinking of Valentines already?
Adults and kids alike really love these. My son always takes the fairy out and replaces it with a rock. What a fun way to wear special treasures. I sell these on my site and at the Fiber Arts Center in Espanola. They are made with 100% wool felt (not synthetic felt).

Acorn Necklace


This is a crocheted acorn necklace. It is very cute and would be great for harvest time. Ahh, I'll remember it as my very first sale on etsy! I miss it so much! I need to make another one for myself.

The Phoenix


A friend commissioned me to make her a needle felted Phoenix, some of the materials were supplied by her. I usually only work with wool roving and minimal embellishments, this was interesting because I had to find ways to use ribbon etc. This piece hangs from the ceiling.