Needle Felted Pet Portraits

These were an unusual request for me, and not something I would normally attempt to make.  They are portraits of someone's pet dogs and were to be surprise gifts for Christmas,  which is why I've not been able to share them until now.

Needle Felted Christmas Elf

I made this little fella as a secret santa gift for a work colleague. He has a little jingly bell sewn onto the end of his hat.

(More) Needle Felted Mushrooms!

I'm really excited about my latest makes, as it has taken quite some time for me to get hold of all the necessary bits. I managed to get hold of some logs, and then had to get someone to cut them for me, I gave them a good wash & let them dry out.



Then I needle felted some more mushrooms (I just love making mushrooms!!) and glued them onto the little wooden disc, along with some moss that I had previously preserved. I absolutely love the finished item!!

Needle Felted Grinch.

You're a mean one, Mr Grinch!

Ha ha, here is one that I made just for fun, to add to my Christmas Decorations. As much as I absolutely LOVE the Jim Carrey version, I decided to make this one like the original character. I am undecided yet as to whether or not to give him a Santa hat?
What do you think?

Needle Felt Maleficent.

Hello again, this is another project that I have recently completed & I love her!!!

Here is my interpretation of Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty.



And here is a little photo diary of how she came to be:

First, I did a sketch of how I wanted her to look & made a very crude armature using pipe cleaners.



I then built her basic shape using core wool, and then started to add detail on top of that. I started with the face.



I then added colour and detail to her cloak & made her staff.



I added some final detail to her horns.



And last of all - I painted her nails! Yes, using nail varnish! Sometimes one just has to improvise!



And here she is, all finished!

Needle Felted Autumn Mobile.

Hi Everyone! I have some new creations that I would like to share with you today, the first one is a needle & wet felted Autumn themed mobile.

I went on a foraging mission in a local wood and found lots of sticks and moss & things that I thought would come in useful. The whole idea for this mobile came when I used some of the sticks & twigs to make a miniature broom, using my glue gun to hold them all together & wrapping with wool to give the effect of a broom.



I got my daughter to help me to wet felt a flat piece using autumn colours & once it was dry I cut out different leaf shapes.



I then needle felted an Autumn Pixie & gave her awesome multi coloured hair!! I then attached all these pieces, along with some brown coloured beads to a branch using clear string.



This is currently hanging in my living room window, but I think I may add some more leaves as it looks a bit sparse.

Needle Felted Gruffalo Owl

Hi Everyone!

If you have seen any of my previous blog posts then you will know that I've been slowly expanding my collection of Gruffalo characters. Fans on my Facebook page voted that the next character they would like to see was the owl.

So I have made a start on him, and I'm going to show you my progress pics here. I'm really annoyed with myself on this one, because (as usual) I get so excited about seeing the finished piece, that I put him all together before adding the colour which I learned, is a big mistake. Because now, trying to add the detail to his wings and tail (which I have not done yet) is a total pain in the bum. I should have added the detail before attaching the wings, but I'm like an eager 5 year old who is not interested in the proper way of doing things, I just want to get stuck in. This has proven to me my downfall on this project!



I'm not very happy with his face, or his extra angry eyebrows! I couldn't really make up my mind whether to stay true to the book version or the film version, so he is kind of a mish mash between the two.

So I'm sort of feeling a bit 'meh' towards him at the moment, and so I think I will re-visit this one when I'm feeling a little more inspired.

Needle Felted Mouse

Hi Everyone! I'm really excited to show you my latest project, as it's the first time I have made anything using a full wire armature.

If you are a fan of Needle Felting then you will more than likely have heard of Sarafina Fiber Arts - She makes the most adorable little critters (which I am totally in love with) and lucky for me, she has also uploaded a series of tutorial videos on Youtube, showing step by step how to make your very own critters!!!

So I had my wire ready, and got some beeswax melting in my oil burner (improvising a little, as I had nothing else to melt it in!)



And I put together my wire armature - as you can see I was following the tutorial on my tablet - forgive the slightly messy workstation, but that's just kind of how I roll!



So, first job was to wrap the tiny fingers and feet (this is where the beeswax was used to help the wool grab to the wire).



Unfortunately I got so engrossed in the project at this point that I forgot to take any more 'during' photos, so we are just going to have to skip to the end! Here is my (almost) finished mouse. I say almost as he just needs some whiskers - I am waiting for some horse hair from a friend in order to do this!