Bears, oh my! On sale two more days!

This past week, I've been busy with needle felting stuff. It's always so relaxing to get back to poking away with my needle. There's a challenge in Cloth, paper, Scissors, which I must enter. One of my flat pieces needs finishing for the occasion.

New Tutorial

But I digress, I was going to talk about my Bears. I made some new ones and wrote a tutorial while I was at it. Once you understand the techniques, you can make these in a few hours. The tutorial has step by step photos, loads of them!! You'll be needle felting tiny Teds in no time!! Click the yellow Ted to see the tutorial.

Kits on Sale

To help you along, I've had the kits on sale this month. All kinds of kits, not just bears. Two more days, if you want a kit with 20% off!! Click the picture to see the kits.

This guy is so funny. I love the patches on his eyes and his paddy paws. All added with wool fiber and needle felted on. You can customize these in so many ways! I taught this as a class and one of the ladies made one in the colors of her favorite hockey team, complete with logo on his chest! Just think who you could make such a bear for!

Newsletter

Don't forget, if you sign up for my monthly newsletter, you get this free pattern tutorial! Why don't you join me? Just click the image to go to the site.

Needle felted Dogs, part two!

So last time I talked about sizing your mini pet. This time, let's give you a tutorial on how to needle felt. I teach this as a class, so look for it coming soon, online!!

Lay it on the profile picture to check the size again, and then adjust it so your dog stands by itself. I begin adding wool fibre in thin strips, winding it tightly around the wire skeleton. Once you have covered the whole skeleton, tack the ends in place with a felting needle. You need to work on a sponge work surface when felting. Add more fibre to thicken the body and legs. The tail will need more at the base than the tip.

Now you have well covered the skeleton, begin adding muscles. A dog is fatter below the spine than above, so to continue winding around the spine would create a cartoon shape. Add pads of folded fibre under the spine, to thicken out the ribs and belly. Back legs also need thicker haunches, so add pads of folded fibre here too. Keep felting as you add each layer and build the body up gradually. Keep referring to the picture.

Take a close look at the shape of the head. This is what distinguishes one breed from another. It begins round, and then shapes into the snout. This can be added once the top of the head is established on the neck wire. Eyes can be added with dark fibre rolled into tiny balls, or use black glass beads and stitch them into the head.

Ears are made by laying out two equal amounts of fibre. You don’t need much! Fold each pad into a triangle and felt it into the ear shape, leaving the wide edge loose, for attaching to the head. Felt the ears in place and give the dog some character! Who can resist a tilted head and a cocked ear?

That’s it! Add spots, extra big feet or whatever brings the dog to life. Give him a collar in leather, too! Maybe a leash for walking will finish off the new pet. Using a profile picture, you can create many kinds of animals in all sizes.

Needle felted dogs

Time for a tutorial!

Have you ever wanted to create a companion for one of your dolls, but struggled to find the right size dog or cat? I'm going to show you how to create a dog to scale, with good proportions. The same rules will apply when creating any miniature animal.

Start with a profile picture of the dog; if it shows the dog in motion, so much the better. I find these images in magazines and online, or you can use a photo of your own pet. Now calculate the size of your pet. You might use a proportional scale, which calculates relative size in a flash. These can be found at art supply stores. Or, do it intuitively. If your golden retriever's head comes to your thigh when he's standing, then the mini retriever will reach the thigh of your doll.

Resize the picture using a photocopier. Now take two pipe cleaners. Bend a tiny amount under at one end of each pipe cleaner. Lay it on the picture and measure the front foot. Bend the wire at 90 degrees and bend the second wire to match. Now measure the wire up to the shoulder. Don't go right to the top, since the skeleton is inside the flesh of the animal. So, leave room for the muscles on top of the wire skeleton. Make another bend, to add some shoulder width to the frame. Bend again, where the spine begins. Bend the second wire to match, and then twist the two together along the spine, measuring against the picture and ending just before the tail. Bend out the hips as you did the shoulders and then bend down and measure the legs. I follow the curve of the back legs, and then bend the foot. Finish the foot by bending under the ends as I did at the start. Cut off the excess wire.

Now take another pipe cleaner and measure the head size. Bend it back on itself, then bend and measure the neck. Place this against the shoulders and twist it around the spine. The other end will be the tail. Measure this and bend under the end, cutting off the excess.

Lay it on the picture to check the size again, and then adjust it so your dog stands by itself. Not so hard! Now you are ready to build the rest of the animal, which I will cover in my next post.

Tiny Ted comes to town

I have spent days and days working on my computer. I am creating a new class/tutorial for you. In it, you will learn how to create a Tiny Ted, like this guy:


He's needle felted and about 3" high, sitting down. I have taken tons of pictures and am up to 20 pages so far. As soon as it's done, I'll post it up somewhere for you to try it out for yourself.

I'm thinking the first 10 people to try it out will get some special gift for offering me their feedback.

Stay tuned for that!

Meanwhile, if you can't wait to make your own, you can buy this guy in my Etsy store.

Dragons!

I have now listed these dragons on my Etsy store. The first guy is made with polymer clay for his head and feet. He is so cute. Since these are Christmas dragons, they come with a removable beard, so they can be in disguise once Christmas is over. The body is cloth, filled with beans, so they cane be posed on the shelf.

This one has a needle felted head, feet and tail. Shown here while in disguise.

Here's the polymer guy with his beard. I also made a green dragon. Can't believe I didn't take his photo. he was being so good, too!

November Sale at the Studio

Woodland Santa Class

Next month, which is almost upon us, I am doing a couple of new things: hosting my first ever Studio Sale and also hosting a new class at the studio, the Christmas Dragon!

So, mark your calendars for November 11 and 12th for the Christmas Dragon class. The Christmas dragon has long been known of in Cymru, where he helps Santa out when his reindeer can't do the distance, or the weather is just too awful! He and Santa are long since acquainted, being about the same age. They have an annual get together, when all the mythical folks gather in Never Neverland.

The class will be creating a needle felted head, tail and feet, and everything is provided for you, for $100.

The Studio Sale is November 17 - 20. 10 - 4pm each day. I will have Noggins for sale, (which are always popular with my friends) as well as some Christmas Dragons and other gift items. If you are very, very good, there will be homemade cookies as well. So please join me at the Studio 1276 Wellington Street, Ottawa.

On November 19, during the Studio Sale, we'll be making the Woodland Santa pictured above. He's the neatest, fastest little guy you'll ever make! The class runs 10 - 3 pm and is $50, including the kit.

If you would like to join the classes, please email me, using the link above and on the left!! You're not supposed to add your email to blog posts, don't you  know, because it causes Spam!!