My Merino wool into shade packs... D's helping to cut, one man show with a supporting silent partner! Bless 'im I think he was under the impression he might get paid!!
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
What have I doing this weekend... rollin', rollin', rollin'!
My Merino wool into shade packs... D's helping to cut, one man show with a supporting silent partner! Bless 'im I think he was under the impression he might get paid!!
Monday, 30 March 2009
Beautiful New Zealand Corriedale now in store!
So lovely to needlefelt! In fact I'm considering making myself a small bed of Corriedale, something to nest in while I type!I have around 11 colours including natural at Sara's Texture Crafts - New Zealand Corriedale
Sara x
Friday, 27 March 2009
Merry Go Around: Favourite Recipe?
What is my favourite recipe? This is a difficult one, as I love food! So what I've done today is blog about a favourite snack I like to eat whilst reading my favourite blogs... a fruit and choc flapjack.
Forgive me I haven't had chance to bake a batch and take a picture this week...
Ingredients;
150g Corn flakes, or any version of
200g Porridge oats
200g Unsalted butter
100g Brown sugar... I prefer mine dark (and yes, I am singing 'Brown Sugar'!)
30g Honey
75g in total of dried cranberries, apricots (cut into smaller pieces) and a few raisins (whole). That's 25g of each!
A handful of small Chocolate drops... I quite like white, but go with what ever!
Go on you know you want to make some now too!!
Sara x
----------------
This post was part of a blog Merry go Around, where I have got together with some friends to talk about a similar subject on the same day... a nice way to meet people!
Jenny at Jenny Karlsson design http://designjennykarlsson.blogspot.com/
Nikki at Beaded Zen http://beadedzen.blogspot.com/
Wendren at Wren http://thewrendesign.com/
Sara at Sara's Texture Crafts http://sarastexturecrafts.blogspot.com/
Charlotte at Fancy Picnic http://fancypicnic.blogspot.com/
Lily at Lily Pang Art http://lilypangart.blogspot.com/
Marian at Florcita http://florcitasart.blogspot.com/
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent http://lebarduvent.blogspot.com/
Fabienne at Easterya http://easterya.blogspot.com/
Andreanna at Glamasaurus http://blog.glamasaurus.com/
Ruth at Birdland Creations http://insidetheartisan.blogspot.com/
Forgive me I haven't had chance to bake a batch and take a picture this week...
Ingredients;
150g Corn flakes, or any version of
200g Porridge oats
200g Unsalted butter
100g Brown sugar... I prefer mine dark (and yes, I am singing 'Brown Sugar'!)
30g Honey
75g in total of dried cranberries, apricots (cut into smaller pieces) and a few raisins (whole). That's 25g of each!
A handful of small Chocolate drops... I quite like white, but go with what ever!
- I crunch by hand the cornflakes into smaller pieces, about the same size as the oats and place both into a mixing bowl.
- I add the fruit and mix through by hand.
- In a pan I heat about 200g of unsalted butter, with 100g of brown sugar and about 30g of honey (Mmmm...), until the butter is melted and then take off the heat.
- With one hand I slowly pour the cereal and fruit into the pan of melted butter, honey and sugar, while stirring it in with my other hand.
- I keep stirring until everything is mixed nicely and then add to a baking tin (I don't have a size I usually go with what ever fits!)
- I cook them in the oven for about 20minutes at 180 degrees (my oven is a fan oven, so you might need to adjust the times for yours).
Go on you know you want to make some now too!!
Sara x
----------------
This post was part of a blog Merry go Around, where I have got together with some friends to talk about a similar subject on the same day... a nice way to meet people!
Jenny at Jenny Karlsson design http://designjennykarlsson.blogspot.com/
Nikki at Beaded Zen http://beadedzen.blogspot.com/
Wendren at Wren http://thewrendesign.com/
Sara at Sara's Texture Crafts http://sarastexturecrafts.blogspot.com/
Charlotte at Fancy Picnic http://fancypicnic.blogspot.com/
Lily at Lily Pang Art http://lilypangart.blogspot.com/
Marian at Florcita http://florcitasart.blogspot.com/
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent http://lebarduvent.blogspot.com/
Fabienne at Easterya http://easterya.blogspot.com/
Andreanna at Glamasaurus http://blog.glamasaurus.com/
Ruth at Birdland Creations http://insidetheartisan.blogspot.com/
Thursday, 26 March 2009
Crafts of Texture: What am I working on now?
Do you remember my post Crafts of Texture: What am I working on now? It caused a bit of confusion; was it a cow, or was it a sheep? You see while I was actually aiming for a sheep, the features were definitely more like a cow! Well I'm all finished now, so let's what you think now... did I make it look more like a sheep?
I wanted him to be quite simple in colour and decoration, so that I could wear him to Woolfest as a headpiece! I'll take a picture at the show to show you how he looks on!
What d'ya think?!
Sara x
Visit my main website here
I wanted him to be quite simple in colour and decoration, so that I could wear him to Woolfest as a headpiece! I'll take a picture at the show to show you how he looks on!
What d'ya think?!
Sara x
Visit my main website here
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
Preparing Fibres for Felting: Blending and Blends.
Many of us who adore Merino and it's many shades of colour, will stick to Merino throughout most of our felting projects. In today's topic I hope will give you a few ideas on how to extend this, by your use of colour and fibre selection. I hope to inspire you to either start creating your own colourful and textural blends or consider purchasing from a range of products readily available.
Let's start with commercial sliver (tops) blends; there are many options available to you here and these can be split into two simple categories. Firstly colour blends and secondly fibre blends.
Commonly colour blends are created by processing two or more colour slivers together in the final combing process. Each colour has already been carded and combed individually and this is why these blends appear to have a stripe effect across the width of the sliver (top). This stirpe effect can be bold, or fine... traditionally the bolder the stripe effect the less processing the blend has had and these are called 'once' blends. You can create finer stirpes of colour across the width of your sliver by processing the fibres again. An example of 'twice' blends can be found in the official Working with Felt shop where I have a selection of Merino colour blends to choose from. You can also buy blended batts... these are usually homemade products by professional dyers and fibre artists.
Fibre blends are created in the same way but have rather than being about colour they are often about texture. A well loved felting and spinning example can be found in the official Working with Felt shop... a Merino and Tussah silk mix. This blend combines the soft luxurious quality of Merino and the high shine of silk, making it an eye catching blend of textures that could work at adding a wonderful edge to you final projects.
If you fancy being a bit more experimental then why not try to create your own blends, or try blending... Home blending is easy on a small scale, you can either blend as you work, or use some simple tools and your desired fibres to create your own batt or roving... and this is where it gets fun, because anything goes!
Blending as you work... Think about your project, do you need to add texture or build colour? Let's take an example of a seascape, you have many blue shade of Merino to choose from in order to make your seascape, but individually they don't capture the 'essence' of the sea and it's enviroment... this is where you can start to use many blue shades to build your picture in the same way you would if you were a painter. I personally would always start with a dark blue base of one colour and on top of that add small locks of lighter blues to create my blend and capture the light and shade of the scene... don't worry if they over lap and merge into each other as you work, this blending will help acheive a more conisdered look. You could also try adding silky looking fibres like Tencel (in the shop) to add a sparkle to a crest of a wave. This type of blending is more of an artistic expression rather than creating a true fibre blend, but it is however important to mention.
Blending a lock of wool... For this you need a flick carder (in the shop) to gently tease your fibres/colours into a softer form to start work with. Take a small lock of each of your colours/fibres and work them together with your carding... here they don't need to have a stripey effect, you could blend one colour into another to create a 'shantung' two-tone effect.
Blending a larger amount of wool... For this you will need hand carders (in the shop), or even a carding machine. The great thing about carding here, is that you can fine blend your colours and fibre. For example if you wanted to add angora into your finished piece, hand carding a 'rolag' or batt of fibre is a much easier than individual locks with a flick carder. It also gives you a larger amount of your finished blend to work with, so you could use your blend as a project base, not just an addition to your work.
Blending at home in my eyes does have rather more creative results, not only can you experiment with fibres not traditional blended in the commercial world. For example, why not try camel and alpaca, or cotton and flax... what about merino with angelina? But it is a great way to create your own 'tailor-made' surface effects for your projects, which will set your work apart from your neighbours. Don't forget if you are hand blending... anything goes, so try everything!
I hope this has helped and don't forget, whether you go the commercial or more arty home route blending is a great way to extend your projects and take them into a new dimension.
------
Here's where to get your materials, equipment and feltmaking supplies... Sara's Texture Crafts.
If you find this guide useful please vote for it at Sara's eBay Reviews You can also find out more about feltmaking on my community site 'Working with Felt'.
Let's start with commercial sliver (tops) blends; there are many options available to you here and these can be split into two simple categories. Firstly colour blends and secondly fibre blends.
Commonly colour blends are created by processing two or more colour slivers together in the final combing process. Each colour has already been carded and combed individually and this is why these blends appear to have a stripe effect across the width of the sliver (top). This stirpe effect can be bold, or fine... traditionally the bolder the stripe effect the less processing the blend has had and these are called 'once' blends. You can create finer stirpes of colour across the width of your sliver by processing the fibres again. An example of 'twice' blends can be found in the official Working with Felt shop where I have a selection of Merino colour blends to choose from. You can also buy blended batts... these are usually homemade products by professional dyers and fibre artists.
Fibre blends are created in the same way but have rather than being about colour they are often about texture. A well loved felting and spinning example can be found in the official Working with Felt shop... a Merino and Tussah silk mix. This blend combines the soft luxurious quality of Merino and the high shine of silk, making it an eye catching blend of textures that could work at adding a wonderful edge to you final projects.If you fancy being a bit more experimental then why not try to create your own blends, or try blending... Home blending is easy on a small scale, you can either blend as you work, or use some simple tools and your desired fibres to create your own batt or roving... and this is where it gets fun, because anything goes!
Blending as you work... Think about your project, do you need to add texture or build colour? Let's take an example of a seascape, you have many blue shade of Merino to choose from in order to make your seascape, but individually they don't capture the 'essence' of the sea and it's enviroment... this is where you can start to use many blue shades to build your picture in the same way you would if you were a painter. I personally would always start with a dark blue base of one colour and on top of that add small locks of lighter blues to create my blend and capture the light and shade of the scene... don't worry if they over lap and merge into each other as you work, this blending will help acheive a more conisdered look. You could also try adding silky looking fibres like Tencel (in the shop) to add a sparkle to a crest of a wave. This type of blending is more of an artistic expression rather than creating a true fibre blend, but it is however important to mention.
Blending a lock of wool... For this you need a flick carder (in the shop) to gently tease your fibres/colours into a softer form to start work with. Take a small lock of each of your colours/fibres and work them together with your carding... here they don't need to have a stripey effect, you could blend one colour into another to create a 'shantung' two-tone effect.
Blending a larger amount of wool... For this you will need hand carders (in the shop), or even a carding machine. The great thing about carding here, is that you can fine blend your colours and fibre. For example if you wanted to add angora into your finished piece, hand carding a 'rolag' or batt of fibre is a much easier than individual locks with a flick carder. It also gives you a larger amount of your finished blend to work with, so you could use your blend as a project base, not just an addition to your work.Blending at home in my eyes does have rather more creative results, not only can you experiment with fibres not traditional blended in the commercial world. For example, why not try camel and alpaca, or cotton and flax... what about merino with angelina? But it is a great way to create your own 'tailor-made' surface effects for your projects, which will set your work apart from your neighbours. Don't forget if you are hand blending... anything goes, so try everything!
I hope this has helped and don't forget, whether you go the commercial or more arty home route blending is a great way to extend your projects and take them into a new dimension.
------
Here's where to get your materials, equipment and feltmaking supplies... Sara's Texture Crafts.
If you find this guide useful please vote for it at Sara's eBay Reviews You can also find out more about feltmaking on my community site 'Working with Felt'.
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Learning to Nuno Felt with Working with Felt
I've been working away at trying some new techniques for feltmaking and at Working with Felt the community has been pulling together to help teach each other as part of our new challenges... That's what I love about the on-line craft community we're a friendly bunch and ever so helpful!
So anyway, my latest lesson has been in Nuno felting... now this is going to be a work in progress so do keep dropping back and hopefully I'll progress to a stage where I can actually make something!
Now as some of you may know, I'm more of a dry feltmaker... partly because there's little room here for wet feltmaking and partly because I usually get to make stuff when I get chance to sit down. So as a result dry needle felting, which can be done in front of the telly has become a bit of a favourite technique! However, Nuno felt does produce some wonderful texture so it seems a little churlish not to at least try it... you never know it might become a 'new' favourite technique!
Here are my first attempts... created whilst listening to Radio 2 and singing along to the 'Golden Oldies'... although I am increasingly aware that I know more and more of them and they didn't seem like oldies to me!
Anyhoooo... here they are, my test pieces.
This next one is on cotton gauze. Again Merino is quite thick in some areas, but what I did achieve was some areas of little or no Merino and that has caused a puckering effect. Quite nice texture I thought.
This final one is on Cotton muslin... I think this is the better one of the three. The Merino overall is much less thick, so even the areas that are covered with Merino have taken on a slightly puckered effect during the fulling process. I hope it dries like that.
I think I might try a couple more test pieces on Silk before I try making the full silk scarf for the challenge we have set ourselves on Working with Felt.
So anyway, my latest lesson has been in Nuno felting... now this is going to be a work in progress so do keep dropping back and hopefully I'll progress to a stage where I can actually make something!
Now as some of you may know, I'm more of a dry feltmaker... partly because there's little room here for wet feltmaking and partly because I usually get to make stuff when I get chance to sit down. So as a result dry needle felting, which can be done in front of the telly has become a bit of a favourite technique! However, Nuno felt does produce some wonderful texture so it seems a little churlish not to at least try it... you never know it might become a 'new' favourite technique!
Here are my first attempts... created whilst listening to Radio 2 and singing along to the 'Golden Oldies'... although I am increasingly aware that I know more and more of them and they didn't seem like oldies to me!
Anyhoooo... here they are, my test pieces.
The top one was Merino on silk. Now as you can see below, it ended up with a fairly even covering and maybe too thick? I'll see how it dries...
This next one is on cotton gauze. Again Merino is quite thick in some areas, but what I did achieve was some areas of little or no Merino and that has caused a puckering effect. Quite nice texture I thought.
This final one is on Cotton muslin... I think this is the better one of the three. The Merino overall is much less thick, so even the areas that are covered with Merino have taken on a slightly puckered effect during the fulling process. I hope it dries like that.
I think I might try a couple more test pieces on Silk before I try making the full silk scarf for the challenge we have set ourselves on Working with Felt.
Let me know what you think, if you have any pointers I'd be happy to hear them!
Sara x
Visit my Main Website here
---------------------
This challenge was part of my free group 'Working with Felt'.
Sara x
Visit my Main Website here
---------------------
This challenge was part of my free group 'Working with Felt'.
Monday, 23 March 2009
DIY London Issue coming soon!
Yes, that right not long now... it's due for release June/July and I've finished writing up all of my articles. Soooo many wonderful artists came forward, so I'm hoping that it will make a beautiful issue.
Keep watching and I'll let you know when it's live at diycitymag.com.
Keep watching and I'll let you know when it's live at diycitymag.com.
Saturday, 21 March 2009
Honest Scrap Award!
Thank you Felt Finland for awarding me an 'Honest Scrap' Award! That will be those blog Merry go rounds I've been joining in with... once I get started I just can't stop writing!!
The game goes like this:
1. Pick 7 or so blogs that make you happy
2. Let them know and post their names on your blog.
3. List at least 10 honest things about yourself.
The game goes like this:
1. Pick 7 or so blogs that make you happy
2. Let them know and post their names on your blog.
3. List at least 10 honest things about yourself.
My recipients are;
Charlotte at Fancy Picnic http://fancypicnic.blogspot.com/
Lily at Lily Pang Art http://lilypangart.blogspot.com/
Marian at Florcita http://florcitasart.blogspot.com/
Agathe at Le Bar du Vent http://lebarduvent.blogspot.com/
Fabienne at Easterya http://easterya.blogspot.com/
Andreanna at Glamasaurus http://blog.glamasaurus.com/
Ruth at Birdland Creations http://insidetheartisan.blogspot.com/
Why? Because these are the ladies who have brought out the honesty in me... my fellow Merry Go Rounders!
Here's my bit of honesty for today...
Here's my bit of honesty for today...
- I can't go a week without chocolate... I've tried but the DT's are just too painful!
- I'm a bit anal about my 'to do list'... I hate finishing the day with something left on it, so much so that I do loose sleep!
- I suffer with hayfever, so supplying fibre probably wasn't the best choice... but addiction never was good for you!
- D and I love to play 'silly' when we get the time, like the time we went to Disneyland Paris and pretended to be cowboys, riding through the 'Wild West' town we stayed in (we got a lot of concerned looks, being in our late 20s!) and getting up to race across the site to be the first through the gates on our first day! I believe you should feed the 5 year old inside you!!
- I'm mad about Christmas and often cook my first Christmas dinner of the year in July/August!
- I have a passion for learning new crafts or techniques within my chosen crafts. Yes, I was the crazy person who loved University... I mean the part where you went to classes and did some work! I know... must have been bumped on the head at birth!
- I want to go green when we move... and no, I don't mean I want a moss-like covering about my person... I would like to live a more sustainable life, growing our own fruit and veg and raising some animals. I'd even go as far as compost toilets, but D's not so keen... maybe I could trick him buy buying him a pig? He's always wanted one! I just hope he forgives me enough to buy me some ducklings!!
Friday, 20 March 2009
Looking for Arts and Craft Ideas for DIY City Magazine
Many of you know I write articles for DIY City Magazine... but I'm always looking for new inspiration or artists to champion, so if you have an idea then please contact me! Here's what I'm looking for;
Artists and crafts people to review.
Craft ideas to discuss.
Craft tips and book reviews to share.
Email me at Sara's Texture Crafts, and entitle your email with 'DIY City Mag: Idea/Contribution'.
Sara x
Visit my Main Website here
Artists and crafts people to review.
Craft ideas to discuss.
Craft tips and book reviews to share.
Email me at Sara's Texture Crafts, and entitle your email with 'DIY City Mag: Idea/Contribution'.
Sara x
Visit my Main Website here
Thursday, 19 March 2009
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
DIY Mag mentions...
It's always nice to get a mention and more so when it by people who have been really supportive of your work... So Thank You Deb & Wendy at DIY City Mag for mentioning me in their Feb Issue. Your support means a lot, Sxx
Sara x
Visit my Main Website here
Sara x
Visit my Main Website here
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Belated Merry Go Round: How do I make my Craft?
'How do you make your craft?'... my Merry go round friends asked late last month.'Let me see... What does go into making my craft?'
I was considering a demo, for February's topic, but as you see it's now mid March so time hasn't been on my side... There's a few reason's for that, firstly sales have still been ok since Christmas and so while things are still at full speed I need to keep my attention there, but secondly D and I have been thinking and applying to move back home towards Devon. So when I'm not working, we are planning, pre-packing and searching. Fingers crossed I'll have some good news on that soon.
So, while there's no real demo today, I'm going to refer you to some post I've previously made which might give you an idea behind some of my techniques.
So what do I do? Well, I'm a former Fashion and Textile Designer now moved into the self appointed title of 'Textile and Fibre artist'... I always hated naming what I do... made me sound so snooty and self-important, so I'm happy just to be known as a fibre/texture junkie!!
My obsession started young, always loving fabrics with depth of colour, print and surface effect and this grew into my day job when I was working in Fashion. I was always the one who looked forward to PV (Premier Vision), which is a twice year fabric trade fair in Paris. Note book in hand, I would scour the event for some of what I needed, but also the most new and exciting fabrics available. Aspirational fabrics, mostly that I couldn't afford, but something I could use as a starting point for my collection (I used to work for a number of British Designers, working on ranges within their brand, so when I say collection, don't always assume catwalk!) I would quite happily talk for hours with textile mills about their latest creations (although my schedule never allowed) and I was always interested in the finest technical details of how a fabric was constructed and processed. For example I remember discovering a Denim that was impregnated with moisturiser, so that when you wore a pair of jeans made from it, it would moisturise your legs as you moved... 'How fantastic is that?!' Did it work? Yes, it did actually I had a pair of sample jeans made in it to test... the moisturiser would last for 20 washes, and they were always great for 'just shaved' legs!! Needless to say, mind numbingly expensive at the time!
As my career in Fashion progressed I became more and more obsessed with fabrication and fibre, working on some of my own small collections and this is where I took up crafting again. You see I'm much more interested in seeing a process through by hand and discovering what I can create, rather than dashing from factory to factory with a set of drawings and some technical specifications that I'd poured hours into and gave someone else the task of creation (the fund bit!). So I moved into Textile Design, which still ran alongside Fashion but was much more me.
As Sara's Texture Crafts took over I eventually gave up freelancing and became a full-time fibre/textile junkie... so that's how I got here? But what techniques do I use?
Still obsessed with surface and technique, I keep to my passion for fibre and fabric. I love free-machine embroidery, which is using the sewing machine for art, rather than seams! I use a machine embellisher to create textured fibre surfaces... This link will make Charlotte laugh, as I think it was the same one that saw her buy her first machine! how to use your machine embellisherThis technique of surface decoration also incorporates my love of fabric dyeing and painting, which is something I want to take into my feltmaking in the near future and am working on my first test pieces as we speak.
I also love to make felt as a form of art on it's own, creating fabric directly from the fibre is so important to me... I love being physically involved in the process of making fabric and dictating (where I can) what that fabric will look like. I can even make 3D pieces. As a process I'm more taken with needle felting, maybe it because I don't have a great deal of room here to work, or maybe it's because I can do it in front of the telly on an evening off?? I haven't really got a demo of needle felting at the moment... this is something to work on I think.I do hand embellish too, with embroidery, beading and fabric painting but these are more of an addition to my work rather than discipline to use on their own.
I hope this has given you a glimpse of how and why I create my work, even if I've not given you a demo as such. I think for me my best explanation of how I do what I do; is passion, experimentation and technique. Those are my 3 vital ingredients!
Sara x
Visit my Main Website here
View my friend's blog posts about the same subject;
Ruth from http://insidetheartisan.blogspot.com/
Charlotte from http://fancypicnic.blogspot.com/
Lily from http://lilypangart.blogspot.com/
Marian from http://florcitasart.blogspot.com/
Fabs from http://easterya.blogspot.com/
Agathe from http://lebarduvent.blogspot.com/
Andreanna from http://blog.glamasaurus.com/
Sunday, 15 March 2009
Customer Photos: Felted Flowers for Weddings at Marion and Maud
How fantastic would these be as a table setting or Bouquet? Well they are handmade by the lovely Stacy of www.marionandmaud.com, using a selection of my Merino colour blends at Sara's Texture Crafts, Merino Blends
Stacy says;
Request your felted flowers at www.marionandmaud.com
Stacy says;
These are the flowers I made with the rovings I purchased from you , I have incorporated some of my glass beads as stamens and am hoping to take the range a bit further, maybe even doing wedding bouquets or something. The colours of the wool were amazing and the mixes were perfectly matched, I love them!! In fact I am just waiting for payday and will be purchasing some more...
Request your felted flowers at www.marionandmaud.com
Friday, 13 March 2009
Learning to Card my fibres...
I promised myself that this year, I would try and learn a few new things and carding fibres is one of them... I love the idea of blending fibre bases and colours you see... never satisfied with just plain Merino, I thought carding might help my felt work blossom with texture this way.
There seems to be a bit of a buzz about carding at the moment, so I'm going to post my first attempts here... if you can spot where I'm going wrong, or have any useful tips please let me know under the 'post a comment' area. I'd be really grateful!
I'm using my Ashford Hand Carders, which are in the shop at Sara's Texture Crafts - Carders
I started with some pink Merino and a small handful of Wensleydale curly tops. Here are my first two attempts...
The bottom rolag is my first attempt... I know rolags are really for spinning, but I was following a spinning book and I thought although the process of carding was more complicated it would at least show me how to create a good blend. I can always take a step back and see how far I really need to take the technique when applied to feltmkaing.
As you can see my first attempt had a few Wensleydale clumps... although part of my rather likes that for feltmaking!
This is the second one... I think this went much better and I like the 'cloud-like' appearance of the blended Wensleydale against the Merino.
There seems to be a bit of a buzz about carding at the moment, so I'm going to post my first attempts here... if you can spot where I'm going wrong, or have any useful tips please let me know under the 'post a comment' area. I'd be really grateful!
I'm using my Ashford Hand Carders, which are in the shop at Sara's Texture Crafts - Carders
I started with some pink Merino and a small handful of Wensleydale curly tops. Here are my first two attempts...
The bottom rolag is my first attempt... I know rolags are really for spinning, but I was following a spinning book and I thought although the process of carding was more complicated it would at least show me how to create a good blend. I can always take a step back and see how far I really need to take the technique when applied to feltmkaing.
As you can see my first attempt had a few Wensleydale clumps... although part of my rather likes that for feltmaking!
This is the second one... I think this went much better and I like the 'cloud-like' appearance of the blended Wensleydale against the Merino.Thursday, 12 March 2009
My pieces are made for the Australian Bush Fire Fundraiser...
and they are off to Australia!
You may remember my post at http://sarastexturecrafts.blogspot.com/2009/02/australian-bush-fire-fundraiser.html? Well here's a glimpse of what I sent...
And I made sure to tag them too... hope I did it right!
You may remember my post at http://sarastexturecrafts.blogspot.com/2009/02/australian-bush-fire-fundraiser.html? Well here's a glimpse of what I sent...
I made one of my lavender hearts and a scallop edge bag.
And I made sure to tag them too... hope I did it right!Wednesday, 11 March 2009
Customer Photos: Cute Felted Minitures at Bushbaby
You know me a sucker for cute felted miniatures! Well take a look at these, made by my customer Sara who buys regularly from my Craft Shop.
Sara sells at http://shop.ebay.co.uk/merchant/sara3013 and through her beautiful new website at www.bushbabyhome.co.uk.
Sara has also been working very hard creating miniatures for Charity.
Sara Says;
'The charity I'm working with and supplying mini guinea pigs and rabbits is http://www.bobtailsrescue.org.uk/. I'm busy completing their first order with me! I imagine they'll be selling sometime early March.'
... and I bet they go like hot cakes Sara!!
Please visit Sara's stores to grab yourself something cute!
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
New Merino Colour Card!
I've added some blends...
You might get a better look on my webite, as I have a zoom facility...
Sara x
Visit my Main Website here
You might get a better look on my webite, as I have a zoom facility...
Sara x
Visit my Main Website here
Saturday, 7 March 2009
Spinning myself in knots!
I think my spinning was too fast in some areas and too little in others.
Needless to say that trying something for the first time when you over tired and it's around 10pm, wasn't a great idea!
Help!
Sara x
Visit my Main Website here
Friday, 6 March 2009
What am I working on now?
Well, to be honest not a great deal... maybe once things have died down a little bit I can get back into some bigger pieces and catching up on learning about carding and dyeing fibres.
Having said that I have started a new headband... maybe I will wear it to Woolfest in June?
Can you tell what it is yet?!?!
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Customer Photos: Cute little Fred in Sea Green Shetland
I do love a 'One of a kind' piece, especially one that tugs on the old hearts strings! So you can imagine how overcome with 'owwws and arrrs' I was when I was sent a picture little Fred, by one of my customers Bramble_Hedgerow
Find Bramble Hedgerow's OOAK weekly listings at http://shop.ebay.co.uk/merchant/bramble_hedgerow
Fred was made using my hand dyed Shetland roving batts at http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Saras-Texture-Crafts.
And if he isn't cute enough for you, try Bunny Lola!
Find Bramble Hedgerow's OOAK weekly listings at http://shop.ebay.co.uk/merchant/bramble_hedgerow
Fred was made using my hand dyed Shetland roving batts at http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Saras-Texture-Crafts.
And if he isn't cute enough for you, try Bunny Lola!
Monday, 2 March 2009
Unwind DIY Style: Feb 2009 Issue
Hi, I thought I should let you know that the wonderful new edition of DIY mag is live! Here's what Deb and Wendy have packed into it...
Welcome to our Anniversary issue of DIY City Mag - "Unwind DIY Style". In this issue you will find lots of DIY Workshops to attend all over the country. Plus we have a few from a few countries outside the U.S. We are hoping you will find one or two that you might want to sign up for and take a little trip. Visit us at diycitymag.com or download the pdf
DIY Shop
We've also added a shop to our DIY City Mag website. Check it out - for funky vintage finds as well as handmade designs from artists. If you would like to be considered for a spot - email us at diycitymag@gmail.com
DIY Learn
We've also created a site for you to offer workshops online if you would like to teach a or take class. Check it out at DIY Learn Let us know if you are interested and we can show you how to get started. Email us at diycitymag@gmail.com for details.
Eceaux Classifieds
We've created a new classifieds web site for you to list your "Green" handmade products and supplies. It is free to list any handmade products. Check it out. Eceaux Classifieds You can see listings by city or category. Only eco-friendly products are permitted.
Thanks everyone for your support of DIY City Mag. Hope you enjoy this issue and hope you enjoy our new format.
Deb & WendyDIY City Mag
http://www.diycitymag.com/
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