Tuesday, 10 May 2016

Needle Felting

This is something I'd wanted to try for ages, and I managed to convince my lovely Mum to get me a kit for Christmas. I wanted to have a try at making Christmas Angels, I'd seen people make them on You Tube and it looked easy enough(!). So these were my first attempts at Needle Felting...


It isn't difficult really, but it is painful, at least in the beginning!  My fingers took the brunt of the needle for the first few attempts, but gradually you learn to keep them out of the way (most of the time)!  Even so, by boxing day my fingers were throbbing!

It was worth it though as the angels turned out ok, but I found they were a bit delicate and wouldn't stand up to much handling. In fact they wouldn't stand up at all (on account of having no legs!).  I decided instead to have a go at making figures that would stand up on their own.  The basic principle is the same as the angels, but it involves a lot more stabbing (and injuries! lol) and a little more felt to get a firm base that's flat enough to stand unaided.  But the end result is something I'm much happier with.


I tend towards making things on the smaller side, so they came out at just under 4 inches for the adults and 2 1/2 inches for the child. I'll post more of these as and when I make them.


And then I went all-out, got a bit cocky and decided I needed a Clanger in my life. If you're asking yourself what a Clanger is and you've never heard of the Soup Dragon, then all is not lost because they're bringing them back to tv... http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/clangers/characters   Although they'll never be quite the same, obviously... ;)


I made my own version of Tiny Clanger. She was a bit of a labour of love, as I just had some one-dimensional images off the internet to go by, but I'm happy with the result.  I have to say that because she's watching me type this blog...


I also have to say, I'll never needle felt another Clanger in my life!!




Crochet Cacti

These are so much fun to make. There are so many lovely wools out there that you can use for instant texture, and adding some fluffy wool softens the look and gives them a realistic feel.  They're great for using up odds and ends too, you don't have to buy expensive wool for these. I found the little pots in my local Hobbycraft some time ago, I'm not sure if they still do them now. They're about 2 inches high and 2 1/4 in diameter. I'm sure you can get them elsewhere online.

They make great little gifts and stocking-fillers and look really nice as a group on a windowsill. But the best thing about these little guys, is that they never need watering and you can't kill them...well not easily anyway! :)






Thank you for visiting, please check out my other crafty pages...
Alli xx




Monday, 9 May 2016

Crochet Bears / Amigurumi

If you go down to the woods today..hopefully you won't run into a real bear! You tend not to get many of those round here thankfully. Anyhoo..meet Olympia. You may recognise her from my profile picture. Where better to start?


Olympia was born during the 2012 London Olympics during my 'Crochet' phase.  I'd recently taught myself to crochet from You Tube and various websites and books and quickly discovered the weird and wonderful world of "Amigurumi".  So began a short obsession with crocheting small things. Miniature Teddy Bears quickly became a favourite, from teeny tiny ones...


...to buttoned and flowery ones...


..to pink girly ones...


And I even made a little mini mouse as a gift for my boss...


He lives in a little box on her desk where he keeps a secret stash of his favorite cheese...


Thank you for visiting, please check out my other crafty pages...
Alli xx