I very rarely get time to do the things I love to do. Needle felting is one of my all time favorite crafts. I love to watch fluffy, fine, or course, sheep's wool become fantastical creatures, earthy puppets, or humble abodes for forest folk. I know women who are making a good living off of their craft. Myself, I don't have time to perfect my art. For example, I once made a tree stump with a fairy family for a friend's child. I ran out of wool when trying to thicken the stump so it wasn't half as sturdy as I had imagined it when I began. If I had time I wouldn't make those kinds of mistakes. I would know around how much wool I would need when I began. It's very frustrating to really love needle felting and never be able to do it. I rarely keep the things I make as my inspiration usually stems from the thought of the person I'm creating for. Even more interestingly, the work takes its own form as you create. Pictures never do needle felting any justice. The colors look washed out and I find that it often looks simple and cartoonish.

This mushroom house is something I made a couple years back as a Christmas gift for two awesome little boys!

Here is the family of gnomes I made to reside here:

They aren't needle felted. They have wire frames with embroidery floss wrapped bodies. I hand paint their faces with non-toxic paint and then a layer of varnish to preserve them. I love these fairies created from Sally Mavor's Wee Felt Folk. Here is a photo of another family I've made to illustrate that they all turn out different.

Today I will get to needle felt some more and I'm really looking forward to the time I will spend on this particular project. I'm providing the cover art for memory books the class will present to the main and assistant teacher at my son's school. He attends a local Waldorf School.  I've had this one design in my mind for a long time and can't wait to see it take form. Here is the work I've already done for the first grade teacher.

When it's finished it will have a border stitched around it like a matte.The woman and the sun are raised and the rest of the picture is firmly felted. Today is a cloudy gray day, perfect for sitting inside and making my own warmth and sunshine through creative expression. I can't wait until the day when I can dive further into my projects and come up with a unique and personal style that's more predicatable for myself. Right now I'm enjoying the unpredictability of the work, it suits the chaos in my life!

Happy Weekend!!!