Felting Class!

I taught this class all the way back on January 18th, but well, I just got around to downloading the photos! Its also a quiet Saturday morning, which is when I like to get online. Brandon is still in bed, which is where I’d like to think I’d still be if it weren’t for Marcus and Ruby deciding they NEEDED to go outside and get breakfast right at seven. And well, after the dogs have gotten you up, whats the point of going back to bed? Ruby is staying with us for a few days while her dad is up in Seattle. She is easily the most challenging dog that we watch, being a pit bull pup will do that to you. For all that they turn into lazy couch potatoes, they start out little demon bundles of energy! Right now she has ALL of Marcus’ toys spread out on the carpet behind me and is jumping from one to another. Marcus, as usual, after breakfast went back to bed.

But enough! Got my coffee, lets talk about the class! From my years working at First Impression, I learned how to set up a good class: always lay out the seating with worksheets and tools! So here is my parent’s dining room all set up for class. Note the cookies in the middle, surrounded by felty critters and things to inspire. That’s my spot at the top, with the green pad.

They showed up, got their name tags (I’m also a HUGE believer in name tags, if you know each other fine, but if you don’t or kinda know each other but can’t remember names, its a good way to meet I’ve found.), poured their coffee (thanks Tamara for bringing the cream!) and we got started.

I guess at this point I should probably explain why I was teaching a felting class to a bunch of ladies in my parents house. Last fall me and some other girls from the Saturday Market started a once a month crafty group. Our first project was needle felted birds because I had finally bought a book and some needles and taught myself to felt. We all had so much fun they went out and bought their own felt.

So in November at my dad’s 60 birthday party I was telling some of the neighbors (who are really like my aunts, we are a big family on 45th street) about felting and they decided I should teach a class on it. So here we were. My class was about mostly neighbors, a few quilting group ladies from my mom’s quilt group, and my friend Peggy who is a graphic designer and also has been doing my photocopying for years! I knew she’d have fun and fit right in with these crazy, outgoing ladies. And I was right. I think after that class she wished she’d grown up on 45th too. Or wanted to move there.

Look at all those busy felters! We made birds because a) they are easy, and b) you pretty much learn everything you need to know about needle felting making a bird.

One of the best things about needle felting is that the medium is so forgiving. If you don’t make it big enough, felt more wool in. If you make one wing bigger than the other, just cut it down. If you make a mistake, just embellish and no one will notice!

Here is Laurie modeling one of mom’s felt bowls as a hat. Mom has lately been knitting bowls and felting them down in the wash. She got started with the needle felting when she decided she wanted to put stripes on that yellow bowl she just made. Well, once you start felting you may never stop!
Here are our finished birds! Mine is the mint one with purple wings and an orange breast. I think they all turned out great! Some of the quicker ladies decided to make nests for their birds. Well, okay, the lady who finished first started by making pink eggs for her bird, and moved on to the nest. She inspired my mom and another friend, so their were three. We are missing one bird and nest because Carol needed to go home to her grandson!

A few ladies missed the class, so I may be teaching another one in February. I really enjoy teaching these little classes. I don’t think I would really like being a Teacher, per se, cause I don’t have the interest in a long term class. But a one time class? Sign me up!

Friendly Trees

Check out who showed up for Christmas! So I taught my friend Dorothy how to felt last month, and look what she comes up with for Christmas presents: happy trees! I think I’ve mentioned before how much I love that everyone I’ve taught how to felt just goes nuts for it, but dang! I am amazed at how many directions people are going with it!

This pine tree is Brandon’s. The Christmas Velociraptor I made a couple years ago, I still love his earmuffs.
The puffy tree is mine. Apparently, she started out as a bear, but decided she really wanted to be a tree. I love how felting works that way sometimes. And well really, who doesn’t love a happy tree with a birdie living in it so much more that a bear? Oh and that triceratops is friends with the raptor by the pine tree. He is carrying a wreath, duh.

Here’s everyone together on top of my silver tv set. The trees and dinosaurs are hanging out at Santa’s house with him and Mrs. Claus, who are totally making out in the front yard. ew.

Merry Christmas!

Felty ornaments and snow

So last week I participated for the first time in the Pioneer Courthouse Square Saturday Market’s Artisan’s Market. Wow, that’s a long title. It may have a shorter name, but I think that one sums it up. And it turns out it was a good gig. I’ve never done it before, and its been going on for four years or something, but I think I will do it again. I made some money, and the weather was great, at least for the first three days. The last day would make you rethink the thought that you would ever want to do this again. It was a fraking rain and windstorm, that was hellbent on destroying our booths! And it succeeded in destroying a few, but not mine. Naomi and I bugged out a couple hours early (but a couple hours later than many) when a few huge wind gusts came up and blew my jewelry all over the wet ground, and tried to take our tents away (and we had really heavy weights on our booths!)

But, if you forget that last day, it was great! I was set up between Yedomi Jewelry and Eden Kitty, and had a great time with both of them. Naomi and Yeder were nice enough to share their most excellent propane heater with me by keeping a wall open between us, and Naomi and I got some serious crafting done while we waited for customers. Check out all the felted critters I finished while there. Well, critters, and a broccoli (I was running out of ideas, and that was her suggestion).

In between feltings, we also finished planning and making invitations for our friend’s baby shower. We are some multi-tasking, crafty bitchez! I don’t have pictures of them though. And yes, that is a pink whale with a green beret in the above photo. And I liked the first chicken so much I made a second one. And a wolf’s head, and a goldfish and Siamese fighting fish. I guess I really like swimming things and birdies….

And so after that great week, it was the Saturday Market, which was not so nice. Saturday rather sucked, and well, we all decided NOT to do the Market on Sunday because of threat of snow. Which usually means no snow, because as market superstition goes, “if you don’t do the market due to predicted weather, it will instead be a perfect market day.” But it snowed! And it was beautiful. If you are reading this from somewhere other than Portland, you might wonder why we get all crazy about the snow here. But the fact is, it might snow once a winter here, and well, we have to take FULL advantage of the snow. So nothing happens here. People don’t drive, stores and schools are closed (even just an inch will due), nothing happens. So we sat inside and watched the snow. Here are pictures of it from my living room:

The birds didn’t like it so much. The ducks pretty much just ignored it, and sat in the water bowl I brought out to water them since their water was frozen. Weirdos. The chickens, well, three of them had enough sense to go inside their henhouse to get out of the wind, but Martha, well, she decided to sit on top of the henhouse, by the frozen water thing. I finally got tired of it and stuffed her in with her friends. I think she appreciated it.

Well, we’ll see if this clears up in time for the festival of the last minute at the Saturday Market. I could use a few more selling days before Christmas…

Happy Holidays!

Bottlecap Christmas Ornaments are here!

There’s my desk covered in Christmas ornaments in various stages of finished. I realized that this week was to be devoted to the making of ornaments last weekend when people started asking for them. For some reason I am surprised every year when customers start asking about them. I seem to forget that I am not the only person who loves these!

I make the ornaments out of a bunch of things. They started as bottlecaps surrounded by German Christmas light reflectors, but they have grown this year into also including fake flowers, snowflakes and small doilies. I have way to much fun listening to Christmas music (yep, i have overturned my previous only after thanksgiving rule) and sticking these together. Cause well, you gotta get into the Christmas mood, and listening to Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, and Johnny Mathis crooning Christmas toons does it for me!

Below are some pics of the ornaments themselves in mostly finished states.

And here are some of my felted birdies all ornamented out with jingle bells, beads, and sequins. Keep an eye out, I am brainstorming some felted Christmas monsters next…

This ones kinda my favorite…

Felting Fun

Got together with some ladies and had some fun felting little birdies on tuesday! Check out the pictures. Not only is felting super rad, its also REALLY easy to make something that looks good. The picture above is of us drinking our tea and coffee and eating some tasty treats we all brought. Where’s the fun in crafting if there is no food to go with it?

Check out all the lovely wool roving below! I got it all on Etsy for a song. Its beautiful. Those are the felting needles in the green and pink cases, and a little grey birdie next to those red handled scissors.

Here we are part way through the making! Erin’s table was perfect for this project, everybody could reach everything.

And here are our finished birdies! I kid you not, felting looks intimidating, but it is a piece of cake!

Cheers, Maggie