Gnome and Wool Flower Card

I am so tickled to be a part of the Susan K. Weckesser design team for the remainder of the year.

I love her stamp sets. 

 Many of them are whimsical.

One of my favorites is the What's up Gnomey set.

So I wanted to share a little card I threw together with that set yesterday.

I stamped and cut out the gnome.

Inked the edges of my cardstock.

And cut a few flower shapes with my Sizzix and the Sizzix Flower Layers 3 die.

The flowers are cut from scraps of felted wool sweaters.

And then I dug into my extensive vintage button collection...

I sewed the buttons onto the centers of the flowers before I mounted the brown card stock with 3-d foam squares.

I like the texture.

Thanks for stopping by....

Another little Teacup Mouse

Last fall I shared some sweet felt mice and mushroom cups here.

On the workbench recently I noticed a few of the mushrooms remained and I know all the other cups have sold so I made this sweet little guy.

I feel like I want to make some new ones.

I feel like they might be different.

I would like to do some all white and cream ones.

Like a winter fairy forest.

Maybe even make the mice white with really big ears...

Sounds like the perfect thing to do when the weather cools down, doesn't it?

I may have to go dig out some things and cut all the pieces so they are ready to go.

The perfect project for when I don't feel like thinking too hard.

I love hand stitching for those kinds of times...

Thanks for stopping by...

                  Linking up with these great blogs.

Needle Felted Bunny

So how cute is this bunny?

Pretty cute, right?

He started with one of those needle felting kits.

I love those.  

They come with a mold.

After you make the front and back, you just felt them together.

When you finish your bunny, you can make more bunnies.

Since you already have the mold, you just need to purchase more wool roving.

You can make a bunny any color you want.

I love this brown roving the bunny came with.

I like the way he turned out but I think I was hoping for a more natural bunny.

Like a real bunny.

This one is like a cartoon bunny.

Still, he is a cute bunny.

I felted him much better than the dog I made last year.

This bunny is very firm.

He fetched a second place ribbon at the fair...

Yay, bunny!

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these great blogs.

Felted Wool Dryer Balls

Last week I showed my workbench with the wool dryer balls in progress.

This week they are done.

They took a few rides with loads of laundry.

Any load that required a hot washing.

After 4 or 5 loads, I threw them in with 2 loads in the dryer to be sure they were thoroughly dry.

Then I removed them from the nylons.

What do you do with them?

They can be used for lots of things.

Juggling.

Cat toys.

And in the dryer.

They are a natural way to cut down on dry time.

I have tried them.

I added  4 of them to a load in the dryer and it got dry about 20 minutes faster.

Supposedly if you add more, it can cut the time down even further.

I usually make them and sell them at craft shows.

I also have plans to make some felted ornaments.

I will show you when I get them done.

Thanks for stopping by...

Linking up with these great blogs.

Workbench Wednesday...Felted Wool Dryer Balls

A couple weeks ago, I was doing some needle felting with friends.

We spent the afternoon poking wool, talking and eating.

Ahhh...good times...

After they left, I decided to make some wool dryer balls before I put the wool away.

Here is a peek at the process.

I use raw, clean wool, wool yarn, wool roving and nylons for mine.

I start with the raw wool and wrap it into a ball.

Then I wrap that with either wool yarn or a wool roving.

I try to cover as much of the white wool as I can.

I used multi-colored yarn for some and multiple colors of wool roving for others.

I bought a couple raw fleeces a few years ago.

I washed and cleaned the wool, dyed it and carded it to make my own wool roving.

It is not as vibrant or consistent as purchased roving.

But I am so proud that I did it myself.

After each ball is rolled, wrapped and ready, I tuck it into a nylon knee high and tie it off.

I continue to add balls and tie the nylon until it is full.

Generally I get 5-6 per knee high.

The next part of process will be the wet felting...

Not at all difficult.

I will add these to the next several loads of laundry washed in hot water.

Come back to see how they turned out and learn more about what I do with them when they are done.

Thanks for stopping by...

Linking up with these great blogs.

A Ballet Shoe Keepsake

Do you have a ballerina in your life?

I do not, but I always dreamed of dancing.

This is as close as I will get.

I found some ballet slippers at the thrift store and snatched them up. 

 I transformed this one with a little nest and some sweet touches.

It would look so sweet on a dancer's shelf or nestled among the branches of her tree at Christmas time.

To give it some shape, I stuffed it with polyfil stuffing.

I built a little nest in the heel with Spanish moss and some polymer eggs.

Beneath it, some tea stained strips of newspaper peek out.

I ran some newspaper through the shredder and then sprayed it with very strong tea.

  I turned it and resprayed it until it had the look I was going for.

The nest was constructed in a small grapevine wreath lined with delicate lace.

The Spanish moss sits atop the lace.

I love the textures...

In front of the nest, I added some natural sheep's wool.

You can see it resting on the polyfill here from the side.

I added a couple little blossoms to finish it off.

This would be such a great little memento for a dancer, her mother, grandmother or teacher.

I hope maybe you decide to create one of your own...

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these great blogs...

Mason Jar Monday #2... A Warm and Cozy Gift....

It's Mason Jar Monday Again!

This week is not technically a mason jar so I hope you will forgive me.

Today's jar project uses a recycled pickle jar.

I love saving these after the pickles are gone.

They are tall and thinner than a gallon jar so they fit more places.

In this case, it is roomy enough to house the contents for this gift.

First I painted the lid with a coat of DecoArt Chalky Finish paint in Serene.

Then I made a pair of cozy mittens to give as a gift.

These wooly mittens were made from a thrift store sweater.

  I used the pattern and directions from Hobby Farm Home.

While the magazine is no longer in print, you can find the directions here.

The mittens can be whipped together in an evening.

They will make such a cozy gift for someone.

I did learn that you have to cut the pattern precisely. 

I had one piece that had a wonky side and when I sewed it together it got all goofy.

I ended up having to take it all apart, trim the wool and sew it again.

They are much better now.

Next, add your mittens and a few pouches of hot chocolate to the jar.

Screw the lid on.

Add a scarf.

I tried tying it a few different ways...

In a bow...

 Folded in half with both ends pulled through...

And my new favorite way to wear a scarf...

Folded in half with one end pulled through, twisted and then the other pulled through as well.

Now you have a perfect cozy gift for someone special.

Anyone who lives where it is cold would appreciate this warm and wooly treat.

Once the mittens and scarf are removed, the jar can be used any way they want.

This is a proud part of 99+ Handmade Gifts...

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these great blogs.

Needle Felting...All Warm and Woolly...

One of my favorite winter crafts is needle felting. 

Have you tried it?

Very relaxing...

I love needle felting by hand...

The rhythmic tapping of the needles through the fabric....

But I must confess...

I also own a needle felting machine which is much faster and easier.

The drawback is that with 12 needles loaded in the machine, when they break it is a pain to replace them.

And expensive.

However, you can achieve really cool results quickly.

Let me show you.

This was a piece of wool felted sweater.

I just machine felted it onto a scrap of burlap a little bigger than the piece of wool.

Then I wrapped it around my jar to see where I would need to stitch it.

I stitched it with some cotton string.

I love those little primitive Xs.

This little purse came from the thrift store.

I needle felted the little wool butterflies on by hand.

Just get a little cookie cutter in a shape you love.

Put your felting mat inside the bag under where you want your shape.

Lay the cookie cutter on top.

Add some wool roving inside the cookie cutter and needle felt it.

Be sure to do the edges extra to give your shape definition.

Then remove your cookie cutter and continue to needle felt it until it looks like you want it to.

You can add details with more wool like the lines down the center of the butterflies.

I used a scrap of wool yarn for the butterfly trails.

Just needle felt it in place too.

I added a wool butterfly to this little wool hat as well...

A sweet fun touch that can take a simple gift from nice to much more personal.

A project I have been wanted to try is a machine felted landscape pin.

This one used scraps from a blue sweater, green sweater and a black sweater as the base.

I cut my shapes and then machine felted them together.

 

I learned that the piece grew quite a bit larger when it was felted. 

 

This is quite a big pin, but it started just the right size.

If you try it, make yours smaller than you want the final product.

After I machine felted the sweater pieces together, I added little wisps of wool roving in green to the hills and white for the clouds.

While I had the felting machine out, I did a little experimenting.

I had this doily from the thrift store and wondered if the felting machine would work on it.

It did.

I did have one little place where the machine sort of ate a little bit of the doily.

But it was on the edge and not super noticeable.

I felted it on a piece of wool and then trimmed the wool afterwards.

A successful experiment.

  WooHoo!

Hope you got some new ideas for felting.

Thanks for stopping by....