Needle Felted Polar Bears

Group Photo

I received two needle felting books for Christmas so I decided to make a few polar bears since I had a large amount of white wool on hand. I think these turned out well considering they are a first attempt. They are quite small, the seated one is the tallest and he is only 3 inches. The two standing ones are less than 4 inches long and approximately 2 3/4 inches tall. Needle felting takes hours!!! The process consists of poking a barbed needle into a mass of wool shaping as you go. I have been knitting up a storm lately and decided I needed a change of pace so tried my hand at a new skill. I must admit that I really like needle felting and will certainly be making more creatures in the future!

Too Cute!

  

This is my dog- Maggie. She is a mixed breed- what mix even the vet can't quite figure out? But I don't care. She has lived with my husband and me for four years now. Just a 22 pound bundle of joy that we found at our local animal shelter. I am including this picture of her in my blog because it is the time of year many people start thinking about their "New Year's Resolutions" and I had a thought- why not give the ASPCA a plug! There are many animals waiting for homes. If you are in a position to give one of these cuties a home please consider your local animal shelter. If adopting a pet is not feasible right now, perhaps volunteering your time either at the ASPCA facility or at functions the shelter runs during the year. Do you need to shed a few pounds this year (who doesn't)? Just think of how much you will save on gym memberships by walking a dog instead, not to mention the constant unconditional love. Just a thought!
Photograph by Mike Collins Click here to see more of Mike's photos

Merry Christmas

I'm finally able to post a picture of this year's ornament. I made one of these mice for each of my children, and each of the aides that work in my classroom- that's 10 in all but who's counting! They are small, only standing about 4 inches tall.  I modified a pattern by http://vintagericrat.blogspot.com called Jofus and Lally- shrinking it down and changing the tail construction. I also chose to clothe mine. They were fun to make and every recipient really seemed to love them.

Textile Tart Holiday Party

Every December the Textile Tarts have a holiday get-together at which we swap a hand made gift. Every year it is something different- an ornament, a pin cushion and needle case. We usually decide in the fall what item we are going to make. This year we decided to bring a Santa which could be no larger than 6 inches. He could be an ornament or a decorative piece. I made this felt Santa. He stands about five inches tall. He is made using a rose pink felt that I embellished with green holly leaves and beading. I think he is a very cute fellow. Tomorrow is our meeting so it will be interesting to see how everyone interpreted the Santa idea.

iPhone/IPod Touch

I have designed a new item for my shop. It is a sleeve for an iPhone 4 and/or iPod Touch (or any other mobile device that has approximately the same measurements). I based this design on my Kindle sleeves- same style just different size requirements. I think they are adorable- if only I owned a iPhone!

Bought Myself A Birthday Gift

A few weeks ago, I purchased a clothes pin doll on etsy from dollproject.com. The artist’s name is Jessica Hamilton. She makes different kinds of art dolls but I am completely smitten with her pin dolls- they could not be sweeter. She calls them pin dolls because they are made from wooden clothespins. I have been dropping big hints to my family about my birthday (halloween baby) coming up and how much I love love love these little treasures..time will tell.

Rag Doll

A friend of mine recently asked me if I would make a rag doll appropriate for a 3 1/2 year old to play with as she is refinishing a doll crib from the 1950’s and wanted to put a doll inside the crib to give to this little girl for Christmas. I have never made a doll that a child would actually be playing with so it was a challenge. I searched the internet for examples of rag dolls/patterns. There’s lots of different styles out there. I decided I wanted something a bit modern without the traditional yarn hair used on many rag dolls. After over an hour of looking at everything on line and not seeing anything that I really wanted, I was minutes away from just drawing a patten myself when I came across the pattern for this doll. It is featured on Martha Stewart’s website. There is even a video of the designer creating it with Martha. She has an etsy site called theblackapple.etsy.com. She offers this pattern free (when used for self or gift- not to be sold) on Martha’s site. My version is basically her pattern with a few added extras - I changed the size so the final product would be 16 inches and added the skirt and jacket. She turned out great- soft and loveable and best of all completely washable! Her skirt has an elastic waistband and her jacket is removable so the little girl will be able to dress and undress to her heart’s content. I hope she loves her!

After completing this doll I decided to make a second one. She has a bit of a different hair style but otherwise the same. She will also be a Christmas gift for a little girl.