fimo test, part ii

this was my second attempt with fimo, practising some techniques from the book which lovely m surprised me with. i quite liked playing around with this, it's like plasticine for grown-ups! but it does feel verrrrry different to the lovely, soft textures that i'm used to with the felt making.

fimo test

here's my first attempts with fimo, just really to test out the oven temperature so i wasn't looking for anything too fancy but i'm quite pleased with the end results!

jewellery makes, part ii

glass pendant with felt, can't decide which of these i prefer ...

green glass bead necklace ...

felt flowers

i made these as part of my mum's mother's day present. i was really chuffed with them and my mum thought they were great. must find a solution to the photography difficulties though - the pictures don't really do them justice!

shibori and dye test pieces

inspired by the shibori workshop, we took another trip out to twist fibres to buy some dyes. these are my first attempts at mixing dyes.

just playing around with shapes and colours really, mixing different dyes and finding colours i like. i think these worked fairly well and i am quite pleased with the results, i can't wait to get started on a bigger project which will incorporate this technique.

the first piece is shibori on silk chiffon and the rest are shibori on merino wool

nuno felt test

worked fairly well, i used bright colours so that i could clearly see the contrast between the wool and the cotton but when i use this technique again, i'll either dye the muslin first or use colours which tone in with the background.

little satin purse

i loved this skirt but it just never looked right on me, so i cut it up and used a small piece of it to make a little purse to hold my holiday savings!

another twist fibres workshop

this time for a shibori workshop with janette. this is adapted from the japanese method of shibori and translates really well into felt as a means of creating structures, and many other materials as a dyeing technique. i was so taken with shibori, i love the shapes and patterns that it leaves behind, that i have made many, many more practise pieces and am drawing up ideas for a wall hanging - pics to follow! this was also my first attempt at dyeing.

shibori scarf
shibori scarf, with the 'bobbles' ironed out

shibori on silk georgette, again with the 'bobbles' ironed out

christmas

here's some little deccies i made last christmas, not great pics – still need to develop that skill! (oh, ha, unintentional pun).

red painted wooden hearts, with silver or gold glitter finish, threaded with metallic embroidery thread - photo lets them down, i loved these and they really sparkled in the fairy lights on the tree.

red painted wooden hearts with ribbons.

green painted wooden trees with little sparkles (can't quite remember what they're actually called!) attached, threaded with metallic embroidery thread, again not a great pic, these looked much better for real.

these were going to be tree decorations but i didn't get as far as stringing them, quite like the colours and shape though, so will probably use them for something else soon.

a miscellany of scarves

my first attempt at cobweb felt. i quite like the colours and design but used perhaps just too much fibre and it’s not quite cob-webby enough.

made this for my o-h’s sister, felt and silk chiffon.

a few different styles of wool woven through a textile mesh.

same mesh but with pink wool knotted through each square. i love this scarf but it took me so long to make that i missed the winter! i’m hoping for one more cold snap this year before spring so that i can get some wear from it, otherwise it’s back into the cupboard until next year.

nostalgic felt workshop

another trip to twist fibres, this time for the nostalgic felt workshop. we had to take along an item that had a happy memory associated with it which would inspire a piece of felt that would then have pockets incorporated into it, to hold our memories as it were.

we had such a great summer last year so i took along some photos of our trips.

this piece of felt represents our summer – the countryside, the forest, scottish hills, changing seas, enormous skies, purple heather on the hills and the rather incongruous sun in the top right corner. if i was to make this again, i would make the representation of the sun a little more abstract, perhaps just orange curls streaking along the top. the pockets are to hold the little momentos of our trips, all the little bits and pieces that i pick up and fill my pockets with – the beach glass; stones; grasses; leaves; moss; twigs and the general detritus that makes it way into my pockets.

jewellery makes

these have all been made over a period of time, i love beads, and wear most of these pieces regularly!

i also have a cream heart on a leather lace but when i went to find it to photograph ... i discovered it's missing! i know i had it last week, and have no idea where it has got to.

felt vessel

this was the next piece i made, a felt vessel for my o-h to use as a paint brush holder. the colour and design were inspired by the callanish standing stones on the isle of lewis, stunning grey lewisian gneiss with veins of pink, silver and black running through them – when the sun shines on them they sparkle!

felt bag workshop

this was the second piece of felt i made, at a great workshop at twist fibres, i was really chuffed with it and had lots of compliments when i used it.

then i thought i would experiment with washing machine shrinkage and shrink it did, oh dear ...

felt wall hanging

or door hanging to be more precise, has pride of place in my mum and nan’s kitchen. mum and nan have a lovely sunny kitchen and it suggested this flower to me. this was the third piece of felt i made.

photography skills still leaving a little to be desired!

my first felt

this was a practice piece, following instructions from a book, i was quite pleased with the results, given it was the first creative thing i had done for aaaaaages.

i still haven’t quite decided what to do with it yet, i’m sure a project will call out for this exact colour at some point, although i have thought about adding stitching over the surface …

ooooh, scary ...

well, i have finally taken the first small step of creating this blog! i'm hoping that this will help me focus on the craft stuff i make, motivate me to make more and hopefully develop enough to start selling :)

so, now all i need to do is start taking pics of my recent makes and get them posted up here, now, where's that camera ...