Wool Felted Brooches

I have not perfected them by any means, but my first attempts were enjoyable. I have had lots of interest in brooches, so I will keep experimenting til I arrive at somewhere that makes me smile.
If I do birds, someone asks for flowers, if I do flowers someone asks for birds, so I do what the wool says.

These brooches can have a pin back or a velcro back or can be thread tacked to a purse, hat, sweater, scarf, almost anything. Check out the purple purse on Etsy. It has a brooch attached. The brooch is made of cottons mostly, but is certainly funky.

This style has been the most popular so far.

Wool is Warm!!

During this month, working with wool is especially nice! Its warming properties are quite an advantage. Take this warm looking wool wrap around skirt. It provides a lot of fabric without sleeves or collars, etc. to work around or incorporate! I will be designing a uniquely styled messenger bag from this piece.

January is a great time to take stock of my inventory. These tubs contain cotton pieces that I use for linings mostly.
This cabinet has lots of unique cottons that could be turned into bags or whatever I dream up.
I have a new cedar lined closet for my wool sweaters. I probably have 150 wool sweaters and jackets and skirts.

January is also the time to start re-evaluating methods of marketing. I will look for new art shows, choose some old favorites, and find some new ways to share my creations.

Since most of my creations are from repurposed textiles, shows like Green With Indie and Strangefolk in the St. Louis area are perfect. Everyone gets so excited when you tell them an item is 100% recycled! Everyday I strive to use less, reuse more, buy more wisely and REPURPOSE. It's fun.

The birds are migrating....

...so spring is soon to arrive. I've perfected my birds. I definitely had an aha moment. I've been using a single needle as I needlefelt. I have poked in from the sides to provide a cleaner line, and to add lots of depth that wasn't there before! It's hard to show in a picture, but the actual bird looks so much better. Some even have a wing that is only partly attached, so it is 3-dimensional.

I am going to rework a lot of my needlefelted birds that I plan to take to the upcoming shows.

h
I found the neatest vintage wool blankets at an estate sale. There is a wide red, a yellow and a blue stripe on either end and the main body is a lovely shade of cream. It's heavy, but felted nicely, so I can envision all sorts of big bags. They could be shopping bags, but really, the vintage fabric is too special for that. I like to go to beach on Lake Superior, I think they would work for that. Not the bag I load up with all the gorgeous rocks I find, but the bag that carries the wine and blanket and cheese. Well, here is the first one......, the twin will have a blue stripe. My husband, the woodworker, made the awesome button.

Monkeying around

r

This isn't a bird, but the monkey is made of repurposed wool. I have triplet grandchildren who just turned five. Two are boys and one is a girl. They have a big sister who is seven. For the triplets' birthday I found an adorable repurposed octopus on Etsy.com. The boys love monkeys so I decided to make "sock monkeys" from one on my wool sweaters. Caleb and Nicholas loved the monkeys and Annica was much more excited about the octopus than I had expected. I have plans to have several sock monkeys ready for the show at Webster University on March 21-22.

Still spreading my wings!

This little bird is the first of many I hope. Like all the things I make, he is made from repurposed wool and cotton (and wire, old rusty wire!). My husband made a template ( a board with nails for me to wrap the wire around), so the feet are all somewhat the same size. I have been getting great reaction to this little guy.

I'll be with my friends at the Green With Indie sale at Webster University on March 21 and 22. We'll have lots of new items all made from repurposed materials. Check out the Green With Indie Website. They will be featuring an artist each week. There will be demonstrations and food and much more.

http://www.greenwithindiecraftshow.com/

We will also be in Columbia at Earth Day on April 19th with the Missouri Etsy-Centrics group.

http://www.columbiaearthday.org/photos.html

Lots of Birds

This morning is very cool after three warmish days. The birds are as sensitive to the weather as I am. They showed up in multitudes today. My new heated birdbath draws in the bluebirds. So this morning I sat at the breakfast table watching the birds and drawing small designs that I could turn into appliques to put onto bags. I have so many small scraps of wool, I never throw away a wool fiber....I grabbed wire and wire cutters and started shaping legs to make three dimensional birds. I will try antique lace for wings for the spring birds made of light yellow. They will look a little like chicks. I will post a picture as soon as I "hatch" one. In the meantime I am posting a picture of my first needle felted three dimensional bird, a bluebird of course.