Another Silly Goose

:o) Hiya, hope you`re having a nice weekend! This is just a quick one to say YAY Ive finished my 2nd Silly Goose bag! I dont think I shall be making anymore of these for a while, I LOVE them - but they take AGES.

Although - I have a `Silly Goose - Moma Goose` design in mind too :o) It`ll be done at some point. I like variety, I dont like to keep doing the same or similar things one after another... I might felt a cape next week?! We shall see...I do have quite a bit of work on, plus my MOT and a possible teacher training day (I know...dreadfull mother not being sure of the dates :o)

Splishety-splash

Lined with Kaffe Fasset - Roman Glass

Did you spot my fimo goose foot button?

Well Im gonna love & leave you! We are going out to celebrate my sister-in-laws birthday tonight (shhh dont tell her I told you, but shes turning 40 & moderately traumatized by the fact) My wicked husband & I did conser a cake full of candles at the restaurant, or balloons & banners outside the house when she got home from work... but have curbed our naughtyness. Maybe being as we are 36 & 38 our 40th birthdays are coming up and believe me, she WOULD bide her time :o) No truth be told we love her to bits & really dont want to play her up when she is feeling delicate about it. Oooh - exciting tidbit... our pressie to her is a wonderfull custom made necklace by Keiara... once she has it I can post a piccy :o)

Take care - have a good weekend

x

Experimental projects

Hope you all had a lovely Valentines weekend ;o)

My kids are off school for half term this week, so probably not much felting going on...I really enjoy getting to spend extra time together in the holidays - always have; Im really lucky too cos I dont work during school holidays...GREAT. I have quite a few sessions at work the following week and probably wont start any new felting projects until the week after that. I miss my felting time but on the positive side at least I shall be finishing off a few UFOs... I certainly have enough of them!

I HAVE dyed the yarn that I mentioned last week :o) I used Pure Tinctoria natural dyes, they were really easy to use & gave off a lovely liquorishy smell as they were simmering away. I actually tried to rainbow dye them using 3 shades on each...it didnt really work. I`ve rainbow dyed using chemical dyes in the microwave successfully, but I had less luck with the stove top method (my fault, not the dyes) they pretty much all blended together. Must of been a happy accident though cos I love the result, there are subtle variations in the colours they are absolutely beautifull. They dont really show up too well on the photos; the reds are very rich & though the other skein looks greyish in the photo it is really a wonderfull varigated mossy green.

Looking lighter than in the flesh; they are varigated rich reds & mossy green

I shall certainly be using the Tictoria dyes again... Im thinking of felting a jacket in undyed fibres, merino, silks, locks etc and then dyeing in with the red mix. The only thing that made it a slower process was the need to mordant the yarn before I dyed it (I used alum & cream of tartar) but I think its worth it when I look at the results. Alison at Pure Tinctoria is very knowledgable & helpful, she says that they can be painted onto felt too...I shall be trying that out later in the year.

I finished of my experimental Tudor style flat-cap & Im pretty pleased with it. This was an experiment & my resists were cut from bubblewrap & a bin liner bag, which are not my ideal. Im planning to cut better resists this week, tweeking the size & shape a little and shall be making #2 soon, though I will have to buy more fibre first. I shall probably dye the next cap with my Tinctoria dyes. I`ll wear the original for work... Tudor women wore white woolen caps, men wore coloured ones. You never know, maybe the boss will want to custom order some for the museum :o) to go with the new costumes that Clare is making (save her poor hands from hours n hours of knitting)

Why am I posting so many BAD phtos of myself? :o)

I`m being real strict with myself trying to get my stock listed on my shops... I have quite a bit unlisted at the moment & listing is so time consuming that I kept putting it off. I managed to list about 5 items in each of my shops last week :o) which made me ridiculously happy. AND its payed off already - I made my first sale on Folksy :o). A lady in the UK brought one of my Feelin Sheepish purses (below) Its my customers first purchase on Folksy too, so I feel quite honoured that she liked one of my items enough to buy there for the first time - Im a happy bunny!

Got lots of my homespun yarns in this one

I really like Folksy, its quicker to list on than Etsy...and I think because its smaller items are more visible. Its nice to be working in £s too...

xoxo

Sharing my goodies

Just a quicky, just got back from work & ate my lunch (only about 4hrs late) drunk a much needed cup of tea... and want to share my pretties with you :o)

Firstly, do you remember a couple of weeks ago when I told you about my friend Keiaras Charity Auction? Well I was lucky enough to be one of the winning bidders; a double helping of happiness - gave money went to a very worthy cause & I gained one of Keiaras gorgeous cupcake pendants.

From the Purple Princess range

Keiara has also donated some of her work to be auctioned off to raise funds for Haiti, this auction features work from many artists - if you would like to know more please follow this link to Keiaras blog post :o)

I also want to show you this beautifull ceramic pendant, handmade by Sarah of Dottery Pottery on Folksy. Sarah has really lovely, quirky ceramic pendants on her Folksy shop. I spotted this one yesterday - fell in love & brought it straight away... voila it was here waiting for me today when I got home from work :o) I love purple & green & this little birdie is just SO cute! Thanks Sarah.

Queen of the exotic birds pendant

Mmm both luuurvly; both are purple & wearing crowns... am I obsessing? I might be, I made myself a new felted watch strap yesterday ... in PURPLE :o) ha

xxx

Felting Fun

Well Ive certainly had some felting fun today!

I decided to have a go at felting a Tudor style flat cap, like the one in my previous post. The previous one had been knitted by my friend Clare and then passed to me for fulling by hand... I gave it a jolly good trouncing & it turned out really nice. It was lovely to work with a friend on a joint project, and we`re both happy with the finished product... BUT it took the two of us hours and hours (just under 15 in the end). I couldnt help wondering how a felted one would work out...

So this morning I drew my pattern & cut my resists (I used two) and got to it.

I was concentrating so hard on what I was doing that I was quite suprised to find I was soaking wet! Didnt realise but I was using a not very absorbant towel, and I`d used more water than usual... I must of been leaning against the kitchen surface as I worked - my tummy was soaking wet and the water had run down my right leg & filled my slipper! Yuk! I`ve never made that much mess before, cant believe I didnt notice it.

I think I made the pattern a little bit too big, it took an awful lot to felt it down to head sized (was the size of a bin lid at one point :o) Glad I tried it though, it took 3 hours & I think it looks ok...dont want to mess with it too much though till its dry incase I stretch it.

Im hoping to use my Pure Tinctoria natural dyes tomorow on some yarn that I have mordanted, ready and waiting in a bucket of water in the garage. Think Im going to rainbow dye it, that way I can try out all the colours I have.

TTFN

:o)

Back to work

Well, this week has been my first week back to work since Christmas (proper payed work anyway :O) I work for our local museum service, doing living history with visiting school parties. All of our buildings are closed through January hence the looong Christmas break. So Tuesday I was Lizzie the Tudor serving wench at our gorgeous black & white timber framed Tudor yeomans house. I was working with my friend Clare, who also does living history. She has rather patiently knitted a Tudor flat cap (find out more on Clares blog). They were knitted then fulled, so I brought it home with me to full it by hand. Now I have to confess Im rather an impatient person - I have to do things NOW. I hate waiting. So I started as soon as the kids were home from school & fed`n`watered. Took very nearly 2 hours of VERY vigorous work, but its worked out really well. According to the info we have it would of been fulled, then brushed once dry to raise the napp, then fulled again, then brushed again - and then SHAVED :o) Think we are sticking with the one fulling & a good brushing... see what you think

I shall have to get a photo of somebody suitably attired wearing it :o) I really enjoyed working with Clare making this though, its interesting to try new things and old skills.

Oak House - West Bromwich

And yes Lizzie is both in character AND in costume... heres one of the many unflattering photos taken of me at Oak House, though my costume has changed a little since this was taken...I think it ended up on a Christmas card or something a couple of years back (wouldnt want it on my mantlepiece :o)

HOW many years has the photo added on? Not good!

Today I observed a Homefront session for the first time, I shall be doing that soon too (cant wait). I`ll post more about this later on.

Ah hubbys just got home from work - must run, lovely man to kiss
xx

Buttons & things

Hi there - hope you`ve had a good weekend! We have had a lovely one, it was my husbands birthday on Saturday, I`ll tell you more about that later :o)

Firstly, heres the promised picture of my fimo buttons! The funny little skull was actually a tiny piece of white fimo left over when I`d finished. I didnt want to put it back in with the packet incase it had been polluted with any traces of colour, or dried out too much so I made a silly skull - I`ll probably give this to Rachael (my 11 year old) to sew onto something... I just dont like waste

Some of them have rhinestones pressed in well, the cupcake sprinkles are glass seed beads pushed well in before baking.

For his birthday Gary played 18 holes of golf in the morning, as he does most Saturdays. One of the men he plays with brought a `Bob the Builder` foil balloon & tied it to his golf trolley while he was inside the clubhouse paying for his round - I would of loved to see him going roung the golf course with his balloon bobbing along behind him :o)

This meant I could spend the morning finishing off his birthday pressy. We have an agreement not to buy expensive presents for each other anyway, have done for years. But I love making presents, its awkard for men though & especially with my hubby cos he doesnt wear hats or scarves. Well I managed to really suprise him this year! I crocheted a little red devil for him. For the last few months we have been smiling over the Virgin media mascot we keep seeing on TV; a really cute little red devil. I decided to have a bash a making one, didnt have a pattern (of course) & in the short time I had I couldnt think how to do his head to allow me to give him an open mouth... of course about an hour after I had finished him I had a eureka moment & figured it out - typical :o) I handed him over as soon as he was finished though so didnt get chance to redo anything... still Gary loves him & thats all that matters, it was just a bit of fun.

Well here he is, sitting on the head of our bed

I cooked Garys favourite meal in the evening; steak, mushrooms, onion rings, tomatoes & chips... with sherry trifle for desert. The steak was delicious - best we have ever had anywhere, I brought it from our freerange butcher about 7 miles down the road - if anybody reading this lives around here & likes freerange meat this butcher is well worth a visit - the service & meats are excellent and the prices much better than freerange at a supermarket! Theres also a great farm shop & plant centre there, they are just outside Kidderminster, on the Stourbridge side - more info on their website here. Ooo yes theres animals too! They have a small herd of alpaca, a couple of sheep & goats plus lots of chickens (some are liberated battery hens) & ducks & some pheasants & peacocks, with a nice picnic area next to the animals. We have spent many a pleasant hour sitting out there in the sun with an icelolly in the summer.

Oh well, time to start working... have a good week :o)

Silly Goose

Yay, Im so excited! I have this morning finished my first Silly Goose bag! I know I started it a couple of weeks ago, but with one thing and another after the first day whan I actually felted the bag I just didnt get chance to carry on with it. This project has held lots of `firsts` for me.

My goosey is an inlay. I cut him out of a spare piece of white felt, rummaged round till I found scraps of yellow & orange for his beak & feet, and laid them in position on top of the fibre that I had already laid out...then felted it all together. His bandly legs, the flowers & grass are embroidered on by hand once the bag was dry, as is the `silly goose` slogan at the top. This is the first time Ive used an inlay in a project - Ive played a little before with using inlays on felted soaps, but this was much more fun.

A while ago I had been thinking about bag linings... then later that day I considered the different resists I have used in my bag making... and it suddenly occured to me how when I used a calico resist the fibres felted to the resist so strongly. I started wondering how it would work to sew a simple bag lining first - then felt onto it. The more I thought about it the more I couldnt wait to try it out. So I did & it worked really well. Its such an obvious evolution Im sure many other felters are sure to have worked this out long ago :o) but Im thrilled to bits that its worked so nicely. I sewed a zippy pocket seperately & hand stitched that into the bag, along with...

My own label :o) As I dont have a website, but do have this blog & a couple of online shops I thought the best point of contact to put on the label was my blog (just hope that doesnt seem odd / unprofessional) as it has links to other places to find / contact me.

There is a very interesting post in Shalana The Funk Felters blog about labeling, and she very kindly gives instructions for making your own labels. I have followed Shalanas `how-to` with my labels & Im really happy with them - thank you Shalana :o) I used the Avery dark t-shirt transfer paper onto calico; the labels, now that they are well washed, feel & look rather like kid leather! The colours changed slightly with the heat from the iron (maybe I had it too hot) I think that was a happy accident though - I prefer the colours as they are now.

The sheepy on the label is a stamp that I carved myself - based on my trademark sheepy from my Feelin Sheepish range. Im using him to make my own note paper for when I ship orders & stamping on the packaging just for fun

Oh yes, nearly forgot, I made the button too! I had a morning playing with fimo clay making buttons last week - this is one of `em. I`ll try & remember to take photos of the rest & post that ?tomorow... or this week at any rate :o)

I`m having a couple of really lovely days! Yesterday my friend Clare came to visit Clare is a fellow fibre addict :o) we had a lovely girly day AND a visit to a wool shop!

And then I got my lovely little car back from the garage :o) Somebody drove into me a couple days before Christmas, he didnt want to go through his insurance & said he would pay for the repair, unfortunately he then proved to be a real pain. All the stress really got to me and made me quite ill (another reason why I havent been very productive) but yesterday afternoon I got my Suky (how sad - I named my car :o) back all mended, bright & shiny and good as new! The garage valeted it beautifully - so Im a relaxed and happy bunny again now ;o)

On that bright & cheery note Im going to dash off and make some prefelt for the inlays for my next Silly Goose bags... xxx

Charity Auction

Hiya :o)

I want to help my friend Keiara Wells spread the word about the charity auction she has going on at the moment.

Keiara is an extremely talented lampwork artistist and is auctioning some of her beautifull creations, to help a friend in serious need. The auction ends on Sunday evening. You can read more about this on Keiaras blog.

Thanks

x

Cutest little bear

Hiya, I just wanted to show off this ADORABLE little needlefelted bear! He was a gift from my friend Linda at 8MuddyFeet and I love him to bits :o) Ive named him Button, cos he`s as cute as one & he is tiny; only a couple of inches tall (dread to think how many times I would of poked my fingers needlefelting something this small!).

Linda was the first ever person to own one of my Feelin` Sheepish bags. Button is sitting on the bookshelf in my living room, with 2 of my cloth faeries who are reading him their favourite miniature book... A Midsummer Nights Dream. Isnt he lovely?! His arms, legs & head all move; he is usually sitting down but I stood him up a little so you could see him better.

Linda recently opened a new shop, she is going it alone - please go along and look at her lovely creations. Here are a couple of my favourites to wet your appetite :o)

miniature cheshire cat

racoon & birdie icefishing

Shes also got a needlefelting kit with everything you need to make a really cute spotty puppy dog; I brought this kit for my mom for Christmas, shes working on it right now & loving every minute - she is planning all sorts of needlefelted critters now. Its lovely to see mom inspired to take up a new craft, its been a while! Thank you for that Linda, and of course for my lovely little Button bear :o)

Anyway, time to run - got to crochet a cloche hat for mom-in-laws birthday on Saturday

TTFN
xxx

Bring it on!

I dont do New Years resolutions :o) never was any good at `em... BUT my mission this year is to:

• Increase my sales& promote my brand
• Work on a new range of bags that have been in my head for 6 months
• PLUS some other fun, artsy stuff that I`ll tell you about when I get to do it

Im in the process of setting up shop over on Folksy (like Etsy but UK based). Ive made a start - Im up to 2 items! If you fancy taking a gander Im FeltersJourney over there too. Im not sure whether they have any link buttons, like the Etsy mini - shall have to work that out. Im hoping the new shop does well - got everything crossed hoping it does!

Im making sew in tags to go in my bags & purses & on scarves... really pleased with how theyre coming on - will post a photo later.

And Ive actually started working on the new bag range... well the first one anyway. They are called Silly Goose - and thats all Im saying for now ;o)

And thats it, for now. Have had a bit of not so pleasant running round keeping me busy... getting quotes to repair the damage somebody did when they bumped my car a couple of days before Christmas :( And tests at the Doctors...

Still its 2010 (how sci-fi) lets make it a good year!