paint cut paste

in the past month, i’ve been practicing with needle felting, as you might recall from my first needle felted fox project. i haven’t been able to share these creations with you yet, as they were all gifts. now that each lives with its rightful recipient, they’re blog-safe. along with these little felty friends, i’ll share some tips i’ve gleaned (often the hard way) along the way when feeling my way through needle-felting. and gosh, i’m sooo very green at this art form, so i’d love to hear from more experienced felters, too!

tip #1: purchase the thick, dense sponge to use as your work area. make sure it’s at least 12″ x 10″ as i tried my first felting project (the fox) on that tiiiny sponge that came with my needles. ack! many an injury. (those needles are wicked sharp!) here’s how i began a dove for two friends’ baby blessing ceremony altar gift…

sure, it looks like a seal at first (and i could totally begin a seal this way sometime,) but she later gets her wings and beak. (and a pretty handmade necklace, too.)

tip #2: when felting the body (the main base) for an animal, try not to make it too dense. wool roving is made harder and harder with every poke of the needle. in fact, you can make wool as hard as a rock, but then it would not be moldable once it is in that state. if the wool isn’t too dense, you can shape it easily with the needle, and sometimes even tweak it with your hands, just as you would sculpt clay. i am seriously amazed at the responsiveness of this molding medium!

owl for a 5-year-old's harry potter themed birthday

tip #3: you can create the body parts separately, and affix them to each other (or to the main torso base) easily. after they are formed, attach them to the base by poking the needle completely through the body part (head, leg, etc) and into the base repeatedly. by doing this from different angles over and over, the pieces will join. to smooth over the joint (and simultaneously strengthen it) wrap a thin layer of wool around it and felt it into place.

bunny for N's easter basket

tip #4: you don’t necessarily need a pattern to needle felt an animal. if you find an image of one you’d like to make (google image search works great for this) you can break the body down into its parts in your mind, like i did with the seal-turned-dove up there. there’s really no need to invest in a book or patterns. if you’re gonna spend money, spend it buying pretty wool roving!

improv turtle design for a sweet turtle-loving 3-year-old's bday gift

tip #5: have fun with it! the possibilities are endless!

now, please tell me your needle felting tips — like i said, i’ve only been at it for about a month (and three needle injuries) so far…

wool roving is quickly becoming one of our favorite art materials around here. N learned how to felt stones at school recently, to make them into colorful, fuzzy eggs for spring. she came home all excited to teach me and my husband how to make some, too. so we let her lead in teaching us this activity.

first we gathered supplies: egg-shaped smooth stones (we have collected tons of beach rocks perfect for this,) colorful wool roving, a bowl of warm, soapy water, and a towel.

each of us selected a stone with which to work, and we each chose a first color of wool. i wasn’t able to take step-by-step photos of this because my hands were soon wet and soapy, but it’s pretty easily explained and if you want a photo tutorial, there’s a good one here on lil fish studios blog.

we spread out the wool and wrapped the first layer around the rock until it covers the stone entirely. you can use a felting needle to close the seam here, if you’d like, but it’s unnecessary. then we dipped the stone into the bowl of warm soapy water. once it was wet, we tossed the wet stone back and forth between our hands. it’s a gentle, repetetive motion of back and forth, which can be very soothing.

kid hands, husband hands

you can even squirt some liquid soap into your palms for this part, if you’d like. after the wool seems to adhere together a bit, wrap your second color around the stone in the same way and repeat. you might not want to cover the first color entirely – it’s fun to see it show through.

back and forth

we chose to wrap our rocks with three colors each. after they were wrapped, we put them on a plate to dry. N informed us it would take “a whole day plus a night” to dry.

she was right – in about 24 hours our egg/rocks were dry… and oh so cute!

since we made ours as egg shapes and in spring colors, they are so wonderful with our spring/easter decorations! i’d love to make some solid color ones (like she did on lil fish studios) as pretty stone gifts, too.

large one on left is N's egg, small ones in nest are my husband's and mine

as many of you know, our family has entered the world of waldorf… and as a new waldorf momma, i realized i might need to figure out this whole needle felting thing that always looked so fabulous from afar, but seemed so out of reach for me, somehow. i think i’m intimidated by fiber arts in general, but am warming up to it. alas, i’m here to happily report that needle felting is *not that difficult!*

N and i received a really great needle felting book for christmas that captured her heart right away because of the cute little wooly animals featured throughout. teeny. baby. animals. her weakness. so i knew it was time to get a needle and some wool and get stabbing, which i attempted for the first time a couple weeks ago.

when flipping through the book, i asked N what she would like to make first. if you are a regular reader of my blog, i bet you can guess what she chose — a fox, of course! (i’d recommend beginning needle felting with animals or objects that do not have legs, but this wasn’t all that bad to get the hang of.)

it really is a cool way of sculpting with wool. i was amazing at how the material responds to the needle and changes shape and texture quite easily. i found this to be incredibly satisfying.

i did poke my finger twice with the very sharp needle while doing this, so i was glad i tried this as a momma art project first. (still sore!) however, i have learned there are kits you can get for young children who want to learn to needle felt, and N certainly does! the magic onions also provides a nice post with ideas for safe ways for children to practice needle felting. i think i’ll open it up to be a mommy-daughter activity as soon as my own comfort level improves.

the fox in progress...

N was there beside me every step of the way while making this, cheering me along, “you’re doing great, mommy!” (seriously, it kept me going.) and also gently pointing out that, “this fox is looking kinda long… more like a seal. um, but that’s okay mommy. it’ll just be a long, long fox. i’ll still love him.” haha!

regretfully, when i made this fox, i didn’t yet have that large foam pad ($6) you see just above. see, you need a piece of foam to poke into. for the fox, i just used that teeny gray square of foam that came with my needles, which you can see two photos up. it was tricky, but doable, with the small foam pad.

N is LOVING her new fox pet, and has already asked if i can now make a smaller fox “because he’s ready to have a baby.” i’m psyched, because having made this fox shows me that you don’t really need the book or a pattern to do this. you can totally make it up as you go, but for me the book helped to give me the confidence and a reference and a good look at the materials. i now have two more projects in the works (from my mind, not the book!) so i’ll just be over here, poking away. hopefully not into my fingers anymore.

my daughter is becoming a gnome lover. she’s a girl who gets a lot of satisfaction out of making her own toys - what a great way to boost self-esteem in little ones. this project was perfect for her: creating her own wooden and wool gnome toys!

i recently blogged about how N was learning to sew gnomes with felt. the newer variety is a bit different, in that she is sewing wool hats and gluing them to watercolored wooden peg bodies. i wrote a guest post on this earlier in the week over on kiwi crate, so check it out to see the step by step of how these little cuties came to be!

N has been playing with hers quite a bit, and has gifted some to friends, too. and shhhh, for her birthday tomorrow, she’ll be receiving more wooden peg dolls and wool felt, so i’m sure more will soon be born!

over the weekend, we had the absolute pleasure of celebrating N’s fifth birthday with a bunch of woodland creatures! our little fox/owl/deer/bunny/bear-lover requested a “forest animal” birthday party this year, so i did my best to interpret N’s request and had an awesomely artful time doing so!

you know how we’re big on birthday themes over here. first we decided to ask my friend, meredyth hite, the one-woman show behind the amazing vegan bakery in the bay area, bliss bakery, to create nut-free, gluten-free, vegan cupcakes (to accommodate all of the dietary restrictions among N’s friends and ourselves!) after i perused pinterest for ideas, i asked meredyth to create fly agaric mushroom cupcakes, displayed in a rustic wood setting — and WOW! she sooo beautifully and deliciously delivered!

mushrooms are foresty, sure. but now i had to figure out how to incorporate the forest animals into the party, since that’s what N had specifically requested. i asked my talented friend, chris willow, of the mamaroots shop on etsy and of the inspiring mamaroots blog, to create five candle holders for my five year old — each a different woodland creature. i order her sweet candle holders as birthday gifts all the time for friends, so it was time that N got her own.

forest friends enjoying the party

our custom set of cute candle holders by mamaroots

and for some more forest animal action, i decided to make 36 (yes, thirty-six) felt animal masks to give to the children at the party. instead of sewing them all, like my mom and i did for N’s halloween owl costume, i used craft glue to afix the features onto the felt, and just sewed the elastic bands onto each one. muuuch easier for a bulk order like this. (reminder: you can click any of the photos on my blog to see them enlarged.)

the bday girl selected these for momma to make: bear, owl, deer, fox, raccoon, bunny

mask basket at the party

the masks were a hit — what a fun party favor!

in addition to the mask party favor, i decided to create some magical acorn necklaces with allll of these acorn caps N collected at the park one day. i just hot glued felted wool balls (here’s a nice video tutorial on how to make them) into the caps. next, i hot glued baker’s twine to the tip of each cap to make them into necklaces. in hindsight, i should have drilled a hole into each cap before putting the wool ball into it so i could thread the string through, but this worked out just fine and was (i imagine) easier to execute.

they looked so cute pinned to a giant redwood tree for the kids to see and select.

there's even a creek babbling by this woodsy park - perfect setting!

for decor, i wanted to keep it earthy, and decided to sew some fabric scrap garland to string between the trees. i used scraps of fabric i had leftover from my bean bag project, and cut them into circles. then i just fed them through the machine, double-sided (right sides facing out.)

strung between the redwoods

the party was basically a playdate in the park from 2-4pm, so being so brief and in between meals, we just served hot apple cider, water, popcorn, fruit, and of course, those adorable cupcakes. to keep things simple and eco-chic, i used compostable hot beverage cups, cloth napkins from my fav cloth napkin etsy seller – love for earth, and no plates. (who needs plates with this light fare?)

i even used our rustic rock picture holders for display signs around the party.

despite the chilly day and the muddy park, the birthday girl and her friends had a blast! N barely stopped chasing her friends around the playground for a sip of apple cider – but she did brake for cupcakes! also, can you tell i had a good time pulling this one off?

we created such beautiful memories of N’s fifth birthday — and now we get to celebrate again on january 26th, when she actually turns FIVE! i know people always say, “where does the time go?” but i feel lucky (and friggin’ tired!) because it seems like i’ve been there for every minute of it all. happiest of birthdays to the sweetest and most energetic woodland creature i know!

welcome to 2012, friends!

this time last year, i wrote a post about how the face and pace of this blog would be changing shape in 2011 and majorly s-l-o-w-i-n-g down. in january, it really looked like it would. then february hit, and it. did. not. happen. i continued to blog my fingers off all year long. and here i am, january 2012, with a similar resolution as last january.

my intentions this year involve devoting much more psychic energy and mind space to building my art therapy practice (and chasing the ever-elusive california LPCC by jumping through multiple hoops called three insane standardized tests. shudder.) that means that i reeally reeeally do need to treat this blogging addiction hobby of mine like what it has always been — a fun outlet. not a career, not a source of income, nor a book i plan to write someday. no stress. no pressure. no deadline. just the rainbowy icing on top – it’s a super delicious treat! so i’m needing to breathe space into the new year, and just let this blog evolve and grow naturally into what my life is becoming.

new years day

don’t get me wrong. i will be CREATING, ALWAYS. i will be MAKING ART WITH MY DAUGHTER, CONSTANTLY. these are also priorities in 2012. i will also be blogging about these on occasion. though, in all honestly, more of my own creations will likely show up on this blog than hers. with the onset of 5 mornings per week of kindergarten this past fall, N’s artistic time at home has been more focused on her true love: drawing drawing drawing for a couple hours each afternoon. and while “look at what my kid drew today! and today! and today!” makes for a nice blog for the grandparents (which is how this whole blog thing started way back in tha day) but, admit it – it’d be sorta boring for all of you wonderfully creative readers. seeing as i’m way too pinspired not to make homemaking creative and meaningful, i’ll share an early january creation with you all…

i wrapped a straw wreath from michael’s (super cheap and on sale) with yarn i already had at home (on new years eve. yep, i’m wild and crazy! but in my defense, my house was plagued by a stomach bug over new years so i didn’t have much choice.) N even helped to spiral up these lovely felt flowers (much like the ones we made for our autumn wreath.)

my poor baby has some dry winter hands right now

we hung it on the window pane we scored at that salvage yard last fall.

yay for yarn-bombing! doesn’t that wreath look cozy and warm? (it should – it’s about 70 degrees *outside* over here!) we dolled up the mantel with a few other warmy wintery friends.

and miscellaneous sidewalk finds and random objects from the back corners of cabinets.

N calls it “the winter circus” and says it’s her favorite mantel yet… AND she wants to be “totally in charge of” our spring mantel… so stay tuned for that! in the meantime, i will see you back here every so often. let’s just see if i can hold to my resolution to reprioritize where and how i express myself and allocate my energy… and maybe there will be a new year’s miracle that gives me the strength to step away from this pretty, colorful, friendly, flickering, alluring screen on some evenings… just maybe.

happy winter! happy 2012!

i hope everyone had a happy halloweeeeen! thought i’d share with you a little mother-daughter creation: N’s halloween costume!

by “mother-daughter,” this time i actually mean myself and my mom (N’s gwee!) N expressed that she wanted to be an owl this year for halloween… and that they are her new favorite animal now, trumping the fox?!? whaaa? of course, she does have owls all over her bedroom and her shower curtain and bathroom is covered in them, so this isn’t outta no where.

N's felt owl mask

i remembered how awesome all of my halloween costumes were as a kid because my mom made them all! i feel like such a loser that i usually go the pottery barn kids route each year, so when i realized that my mom was visiting us in cali a few weeks before halloween, i jumped on the opportunity to enlist her help with making this costume (and learning more about this sewing machine thing-a-ma-jig collecting dust in my guest room closet.) i was inspired by the artful parent’s post on making bird wings (which was inspired by ones she’d seen on prudent baby.) i figured these would work well for a little owlie girl on halloween night, right? so first, a trip to joann’s fabrics was in order so we could choose fabrics and a color scheme, based around N’s fav color (which is still purple, to my knowledge.)

then we measured N’s wingspan arm length, and i cut a pattern for the wings and “feathers.”

next my mom and i got down to business with a whole lot of tedious (but easy) tracing and cutting. (sorry for dark photos. most of this work was done at night after the little one was asleep.)

the sewing began. (and my mom showed me again how to wind my bobbin and thread my machine. somehow i do not retain this information, no matter how many times i’m told. probably because once it’s done, i don’t touch the machine for a year or more in between lessons.)

costume contains lots of love

the sewing continued and messes were made.

i created a mask out of felt while mom diligently sewed.

we also created an oval patch covered with the “feathers” that we tacked onto one of N’s shirts.

in the end, it was all worth it. my little lady was the cutest owl in town on halloween night!