Flower Meadow…

January 25, 2014January 27, 2014 / Karen Lane / Leave a comment

Back in November I mentioned the needle felting workshop I held at the Joseph Banks Centre where we looked at the basics of creating a needle felted picture. Since then Sheila has gone on to finish her ‘Autumn Leaf’ picture and this week I received a photo from another of the ladies showing her finished ‘Flower Meadow’. Eileen chose to mount her work to make a greetings card and the finished effect is beautiful. Watch out for Eileen’s next picture as she rises to the challenge and try’s her hand at wet felting – the background is done and looking fab so can’t wait to see it finished!

Work in progress….time is running out so this will be continued at home.

The finished picture looks great mounted as a greetings card.

Needle felted landscape…

January 11, 2014January 9, 2014 / Karen Lane / 2 Comments

Sheila’s Needle felted landscape.

I have recently been helping my friend Sheila with a project she has been working on, a needle felted landscape, using one of my pictures (see banner heading) as her inspiration. It was really nice to work on this together, trying out different materials and bouncing ideas around. The hills are a mixture of merino top, knitting wool, fine netting and free machine quilted fabric. Rather than being 2D, we made the tree 3 dimensional which gives added interest to the piece. The trunk was needle felted as a separate element, and then placed over a sausage shape of wadding before being anchored to the background. Tapestry wool was used for the branches and also to depict vines growing up the tree trunk. I have to say I love Sheila’s version – it’s very colourful and vibrant and looks great in its frame.

The Tooth Fairy Jar…

January 10, 2014October 12, 2015 / Karen Lane / 1 Comment

Tooth Fairy Jars

O.K…I know… they are taking over my life…. I am in danger of becoming ‘Fairy’ obsessed but quite honestly I don’t care, I am in my element! My latest idea is the needle felted Tooth Fairy Jar and I would love to have your feedback on this one. It combines the fairy and the toadstool and results in a unique (as far as I am aware) gift that the Joseph Banks Centre are keen to put in their shop. Fortunately Kate, one of the ladies who helps run the shop, is also a fairy fan so we are currently planning a ‘fairy grotto’ area to spread a bit of magic to the shoppers in Horncastle! Obviously these will not be marketed as toys, and the jar would need to sit on a bedside cabinet rather than being placed under the childs pillow, but I have several friends who are ‘Fairy’ fans so am hoping this is a goer! The plan is to make several toadstools in various different colours of Merino wool, each one will have a tiny ladybird inside which will be made in the same colourway as the toadstool top. I have used two different methods for the wings, one is Angelina Fibres, the other is simply Merino top, I like both but the Angelina is nice as it gives that bit of fairy sparkle so this will be the preffered material.

Kate suggested the jars would also make cute little trinket boxes, they are small but could hold a favourite ring, earings, etc.

Tooth Fairy Jars can also be used as tiny trinket boxes.

Pink version of the Tooth Fairy Jar.

Away with the Fairies….

January 8, 2014October 12, 2015 / Karen Lane / Leave a comment

Away with the Fairies…

It seems ages since my last post but its been a busy time craft-wise so now I’ve made the time to sit still I have plenty to ramble about!

I attended another of Eve Marshall’s fabulous felting workshops just before Christmas and this one, following on from the Elf on a Toadstool with Robyn, was perfectly timed to feed on my reawakened childhood love of all things magical/mystical. The basic process for making the body of the wet felted Fairy was very similar to that of making a flower i.e. laying the tufts of fibres overlapping in a ‘starburst’ formation. One thing to remember before commencing the felting is that the centre of the ‘flower’ will become the Fairies head and therefore the fibre laid here should be your chosen ‘flesh’ colour.

Laying the fibres for the ‘Spring time’ fairy

The head is simply a felted ball, but getting the size right was a bit hit and miss to begin with! The ball is positioned in the centre on the wrong side of the skirt. The skirt is then pulled tight over the ball and tied in place with thread. I have discovered that the best thing to use for this is dental floss as its very strong and can be pulled tight without fear of breaking. At the same time I attached a second length of floss through the top of the head which can be used, if required, to suspend the Fairy. The figures are not given a face, these are left blank in the Waldorf tradition.

The head is formed and thread attached for suspending.

My first attempt at a wet felted Fairy.

Although I was pleased with my first attempt, she now looks pretty crude compared with the ones I made over Christmas! The black hair on this first Fairy was made from wool top and attached by needle felting….I prefer the hair on the more recent examples which I made using a textured knitting wool and decorated with a headband of tiny beads.

Each Flower Fairy is decorated with a beaded headband and carries a posy.

Springtime Fairy

The delicate, translucent wings are formed using ‘Blaze’ heat bondable Angelina Fibres – I hadn’t heard of these of these before but I can see them being useful for all sorts of future projects! To make the wings the Angelina Fibres are simply laid between two sheets of paper and ironed using a medium heat setting for a couple of seconds.

Gothic Flower Fairy

When I made the ‘Gothic’ Fairy I couldn’t find a suitable wool for her hair so I simply used a permanent marker on the orange wool and the result looked fab! This one is my favourite so far…she worked out smaller than the others and looks so cute….which is your favourite?

3D Needle Felting

December 3, 2013 / Karen Lane / 5 Comments

Last Saturday I attended a 3D needle felting workshop in Heighington run by Robyn Smith of Feltybits. Robyn began by showing us various peices of her fabulous 3D work and she explained the different techniques of producing the shapes. We were then asked to chose what we would like to work on and Robyn supplied us with the Merino wool and all the help and advice we needed. One of the peices we were shown was a tiny toadstool which immediately took me right back to my childhood and the many hours I spent drawing toadstools and elves! The workshop lasted four hours and it took me all that time to do the basic toadstool and elves body but I loved every minute of it. Sunday afternoon I was in my element – adding the details including the tiny flowers and the ladybird and putting features and clothes onto the elf. I was so pleased with the result….I am now even more hooked on felting, if that’s possible.!!

3D Toadstool and Elf created using Merino wool.

Autumn Leaf – 3D Picture

November 25, 2013 / Karen Lane / Leave a comment

This beautiful 3D picture was one of several produced by Sheila during our needle felting workshops. Sheila worked with Merino wool and other mixed fibres, on a white felt background, to create a stunning autumnal scene. The picture focuses on the fallen leaf which was felted separately and added loosely in order to create a 3D element to the artwork. Felt is a fantastic medium for creating pictures – you don’t have to have the ability to paint but once you have mastered the basic techniques of felting you can produce fabulous artwork using the wool as your paint substitute. Adding other mediums such as organza or tulle fabrics, metallic threads, beads, etc. can also provide interest and added depth to your work. Keep watching for more great examples of felting produced in our workshops.

Needle felted autum leaf – 3D picture.

Wet felted bowl

November 20, 2013 / Karen Lane / 5 Comments

OK so I had a go at making the wet felted bowl this afternoon…..not an absolute disaster but it could have worked out better! I used Merino wool from Adelaide Walkers ‘Brights’ collection laid onto a flat circular resist. All seemed to be going well until it came to taking the resist out. What started out as a small hole in the top of the bowl got stretched and became a huge gaping hole! I think my problem lay in not making the bowl thick or sturdy enough to withstand having the disc pulled out through the small opening. If only I had made this a bit bigger it would have come in useful turned upside down and worn as a funcky ‘dog-walking’ hat!

Birthday Celebration Workshop

November 19, 2013November 20, 2013 / Karen Lane / Leave a comment

Last weekend I was invited to host a Needle Felting Workshop for a group of friends as part of a birthday celebration. Its a great idea for a group activity which is fun, creative and results in everyone learning a new skill. The ladies were shown how to felt using Merino wool and were supplied with lots of other materials and threads to use as embellishments. Non of the group had tried this before but at the end of the session everyone took away a beautiful, unique hand made brooch of their own design. I hope you all enjoyed the afternoon and look forward to seeing some of you ladies again at future workshops.

“Hair of the dog” 3D modelling…

November 6, 2013November 20, 2013 / Karen Lane / 3 Comments

Sometimes we find inspiration when we are really not looking for it…. On Monday I watched in amusement as a friend of mine sheared “Lady”, a little terrier, giving her coat a close-cut number “2”. I couldnt help thinking of the Specsavers advert and that poor sheepdog! Thinking of sheep led me to wonder if I could use the curly dog hair, that was now covering the floor, for felting….and if so, wouldnt it be cool to make a needle felt 3D model of the dog and cover it with its own hair? A quick look on youtube to get some tips on how to form the body and I discovered DIY Puppy Plushie….a couple of hours later we have “Lady” in miniature. Rather than waste my Merino I used polyester wadding for the core but have since been advised by a very helpful lady at Adelaide Walker that Cheviot wool makes a good base. The Cheviot’s on order so I am now looking for inspiration for my next project.

Needle felted miniature dog

Needle felting using dog hair.

November Needle Felting Workshops

November 6, 2013November 19, 2013 / Karen Lane / Leave a comment

My love of needle felting is fast growing into an obsession! So much so that I decided I had to share my interest with others and found myself, last Saturday, launching the first of the November Needle Felting Workshops which are being held in The Joseph Banks Centre on Bridge Street in Horncastle. We had a packed house with a lovely bunch of ladies, some had tried needle felting in the past while others were completely new to it. Various techniques were shown and discussed and everyone was given the option of selecting their preferred method of working. All equipment and materials were supplied, including fabulous Merino wool and by the end of the two hours everyone agreed they had had a good time and each of them had produced a beautiful, unique felted brooch to take home. One of the ladies contacted me the day after to say she had been wearing her brooch while out shopping and had received lots of admiring comments – not bad for a first attempt!

I will be holding the next session on Saturday 9th November from 10am – 12noon. All ages/abilities welcome but please note that numbers are limited so please refer to the poster for contact details as booking is essential.