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!

Five Little Robins

I wanted to show you my robin brooches I have finished this weekend. I'm really pleased with how they have turned out.

 They're so cute aren't they!? They just look gorgeous on my tree...

...and I'm going to be a bit sorry to part with them, but I must as I want to pay for that Debbie Bliss Andes yarn that I showed you all in my last post. Thank you so much for so many lovely comments and advice regarding the proposed scarf. It was quite unanimous that I should make the scarf. It would be quite different to Lucy's, well shorter anyway, as I only have 5 skeins and she used 9! I'm wondering if I could adapt the pattern to make a cowl as I love the flowers but have wanted to make a cowl for a while now.

I have also made a couple of other birds which I plan to list in my folksy shop soon. 

 

And I've experimented with another little brooch. For a first attempt it's not bad but I think it needs a slightly longer neck!

I hope you have enjoyed your weekend. It's half-term break here so I'm looking forward to some craft catch-up time!

Becky x

L'il Birds

Last year I made myself this robin brooch. I was asked a dozen times over if I would make one for colleagues but it was so close to Christmas I just didn't have time.

I dug it out recently and thought I would have a go at making some but in different colours. Mine was cut from some thick wool felt that I had bought and then I needle felted the red tummy on. This year I decided to needle felt the whole thing. It's a little trickier than I had imagined to get the right shape but I have made 5 so far and they are looking quite good.

I have decorated 3 already but I'll save those for my next post.

A few weeks ago I fell in love with some gorgeous yard and stood stoking it for some time before deciding I couldn't justify buying it. Three weeks later and that yarn had been playing on my mind...

I couldn't resist and bought 5 skeins. It's Debbie Bliss Andes, a mix of baby alpaca and silk, and it's amazingly soft. Very naughty! (Now I'm going to have to make loads of those birds to pay for these!) I didn't have an exact pattern in mind but fancied using it to make a scarf of some sort. Then I remembered this little one that Lucy at Attic24 made and thought I would investigate. Lo and behold she used the exact same yarn (had this entered my subconscious and played on my mind?!). It is beautiful, no denying, but the point in handmade is having something a bit unique and I know that there are now thousands of these scarves/shawls out there as the lovely Lucy has quite a large following.  Does that matter? Perhaps not as we all put our own personal stamp on our handmade items. However, if you have any ideas for this luscious yarn I'd be grateful for some suggestions!

Preparations for a Giveaway no.3!

A HUGE welcome to my new followers! It's so lovely of you to join me here! And of course a warm welcome to those of you who have been reading my felty ramblings for a while now! Only 3 followers to go before the giveaway and, whilst waiting for those elusive last few, I have been busy adding to the giveaway stash!
The first item is a felt heart pin cushion with pins. Something I have wanted to make for ages.

It is really soft and squidgey and doubles up well as a stress reliever!

It has a foam centre over which I loosely needle felted a layer of merino wool and then wet felted for a nice tight felt layer. The foam makes it lovely and soft, just right for pins.

The second item is a little bird brooch that again was initially needle felted and then wet felted before decorating with wire feet and a tail, seed beads on it's chest and a button on it's wing.

It's a real cutie! If it wasn't raining I would have taken it outside for it's pic'; it needs a more natural background than my table cloth!

So the giveaway pile is growing...

I plan to make a felt rose brooch next and then include some craft supplies, perhaps even some felt for those of you who have yet to dabble in the soft stuff!
Becky x

2 Projects

Project 1.
 A couple of weeks ago I gave you a little peek at my latest brooches. Well, I did a little more sewing last night and a few are well on there way...

Some are needle felted with beautiful hand spun wool and others are decorated with sari silk. I love working with the sari silk waste but it is a bit of a pain to sew as it unwinds really easily. I wrap the thread in coloured wire before stitching the spiral onto the felt flowers. It is very time consuming but they look stunning in the end.

I still have to sew beads onto this one's centre.

Project 2.

I have to thank Liz at That Fuzzy Feeling for the tutorial on her blog which I used for my next project. Liz makes the most beautiful needle felted bowls and I was inspired to have a go. Wow, it was hard work! I was so engrossed I forgot to take pics as I was going along, which is probably just as well as it was a mess! In the end I have something respectable, if a little wonky but fortunately felt is very forgiving.

The colours look much better in real life. The spiral is rose pink and actually goes really well with the baby pink and blue. I was inspired this morning by Koralee at Bluebird Notes. If you pop over to her blog you will see she loves these colours a LOT!

An upside down view - toadstool top?!

I'm not sure the outside is finished yet but I decided to quit while I was ahead. Huge respect to Liz, not sure I have the patience to tackle another one of these!
Becky x

Too tired to craft?

I have had such a busy week at school that, by the time I get home, do all the family things and then do more school things,  I'm just too tired to think about making anything. Some nights I struggle to keep my eyes open. Tonight I am battling with my fatigue.
I want to craft.
I will craft.
If I could just get off this sofa!
I'm going to try a stong latte and look for inspiration in my latest magazine.
Do you juggle a job, family and a craft hobby?
How do you do it?! (Any tips gratefully received!)

Not wanting to moan at my bloggy friends, I'll leave you with a photo of the felt brooch I have for sale in my Folksy shop. A cream felt flower with a silk sari waste centre with wire and seed beads. I love these colours, so rich against the pale felt.

The Next Project...

Before Christmas I made some lovely little flower brooches using felt I bought from bloomingfelt and some yarn made from recycled waste sari silk.

Disappointingly, they didn't sell very quickly on Folksy (I'm not sure the photos do them justice) so I took them into work where they disappeared very quickly! In fact, I have had several requests for more. So I have decided to make some in time for Mother's day. Me being me, I don't like doing the same thing twice (too many ideas, too little time!). I bought this gorgeous wool on a shopping trip to St.Ives last month and have been itching to make something with it.

So I thought I would use some with my brooches. I'll give you a little peek of how I'm doing...

Just a taster until I get one finished!