Crochet Wire

I have finished one of the felt flowers I have been working on. I did a little experimenting with wire and crocheted a layer of petals to lie on top of the felt petals.


This was easier than I remembered. I don't know why but it just clicked this time and was made in a flash! Last time I got into a real mess with knots, messy loops and tangled hooks! Perhaps I'm just a little more confident with crochet itself and so found working with wire easier this time.

I used the shell button for the centre of this brooch and added blue and green glass beads. I love the yellow, turquoise and lime green combination.

                                                            This crochet wire is still in the experimental stage! It sticks out quite far but is quite pretty. I think I need to use a contrasting colour of wire to the felt. It gets a little lost against such a similar colour.



I have also felted another pair of baby shoes.

This pair are royal blue inside and lime green outside. I used a multi-coloured yarn and overstitched along the edge. Then I crocheted a strap to go across the foot. They are nearly finished, just need to sew the buttons on for the straps, but I was too impatient to save them for my next post!
With each pair I am learning something new about the process and slowly perfecting it. I cut the opening for this pair a little large and as I continued to full the felt (second stage in the felting process) the opening just kept getting larger!
I don't feel any of them so far are quite good enough to sell, but I'm hoping the next pair might just make it to my Folksy shop!


I am trying to pull together a post about the garden in all it's spring colour, but getting photos in reasonable light is proving a bit challenging at the moment - if you are reading this and live in the UK you'll know exactly what I mean! I can't help but smile when someone mentions a drought - I emptied a leaking waterbutt 2 weeks ago to reseal the tap connector and it's already full!

Hoping for some sunshine this weekend (ever the optimist!),
Becky x

PS A huge hello to my readers in Russia (almost as many as here in the UK according to blogger stats!). Can anyone tell me why my blog is attracting so many readers from Russia? I'm just a little curious!

Spring Felt Flowers

I wanted to show you my latest little bit of felting.

I made some felt samplers a few weeks ago, playing around with surface texture and colour.

From these 3 pieces I cut some daisy shaped felt flowers. They need finishing yet, with buttons or glass beads and maybe some coloured wire.

I managed to get some really great pictures of them during a short spell of sunshine we had yesterday afternoon, so this post may be a bit photo heavy!

Can you see the silk fibre and sari silk waste glinting in the sun?
I haven't quite decided what to use them for yet. I might make them into brooches or use them to decorate a bag.

 

I can't decide whether I prefer the shell buttons or the glass heart beads in the centres. Which do you like?

I was really sad to read that Clara Luna of The Rainbow Room won't be selling her felt packs anymore. She is moving to sunny Ibiza for 6 months so has decided to stop stocking the felt in her Folksy and Etsy shops. It is of course great news for her and I took advantage of a bargain when she reduced her last few packs down to half price!

All this for only £25.00 (inc' p+p) - bargain! That should kep be going for a little while.
I have also finished (well, very almost) the little blue felted boots I made some time ago.

I just need to sew the wooden buttons on and they're done (I carefully balanced them in place for the photo!).

I have gathered 2 items for a giveaway that I'm hoping to have soon! I won't show them to you just yet, but they are good ones!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend. The sun is shining here and my sinusitis is a little better today so I might just get out in the garden - next post will be all about our green-fingered projects!
Becky x

Easter Explorations!

Sorry, another chunk of time has elapsed between my posts, but there has been little to write about. To be honest, work has been busy, the garden has needed it's springtime tidy and when I have had a little time to craft I just haven't had any enthusiasm.
I have been planning to have a giveaway for a while (my first blogging anniversary came and went) and still a lack of interest prevailed. I thought the Easter hols would revitalise me, but no, instead a nasty cold has taken hold and so the first week of the hols has passed in a fluffy of tissues and olbas oil!

 I did find the motivation to put the Easter tree up, I can't believe it was 12 months ago when I felted these eggs. The buds on the hazel twigs have opened in the warmth of our home and I'm hoping I might be able to get these branches to root.

We were fortunate to have it dry on Easter Sunday and so were able to do our egg hunt in the garden. A card from the Easter Bunny gave us our instructions before we set off on our search...

So off they went, hand-in-hand, buckets at the ready.

Two trips round the garden were needed, plus a few warmer/colder clues, before we completed our search!

The chickens watched on inquisitively (we're down to three as one sadly died a couple of weeks ago).

Buckets full and search completed, we head back inside. But, what is this? Do we have mice?

No, just a cheeky chappy helping himself! But look what was inside!

How sweet!

Two posts are planned for this week; one about a little bit of felting and a second about the garden, in which I have been far more productive.

Wet and miserable here today. I hope you have all had better weather for your bank holiday than we have had here in grey, drizzly Cornwall!

Becky x