This is what happens when they all want to lie on the couch...
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
My first fair
On sunday the 7th of October I will participate in a fair for the first time. Together with two friends I will share a stall and we will be showing and selling all kinds of felt, jewelry and jams and chutneys.
Over the past few weeks I have been preparing for this event. Buying displays for my necklaces, designing new business cards, searching for the price tags I must have, somewhere.
Anyway, if you are in the neighborhood, you can find us at the Pompoenenmarkt in Zeist (Netherlands) from 12.00-16.30 hrs.
Let's just hope the weather will be with us!
Over the past few weeks I have been preparing for this event. Buying displays for my necklaces, designing new business cards, searching for the price tags I must have, somewhere.
Anyway, if you are in the neighborhood, you can find us at the Pompoenenmarkt in Zeist (Netherlands) from 12.00-16.30 hrs.
Let's just hope the weather will be with us!
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Chain necklace - tutorial
A while ago I promised you a tutorial on the big chain necklace I made.
Last week I made another one, not as chunky as the first one, and this time I took pictures.
I prepared by pulling pieces of roving about 20cms in length and splitting them length wise.
By folding a piece of roving into a circle, you make the first link. Put the part where the two ends meet together on a piece of foam or whatever you use for needle felting and felt them together.
Be sure this part ends up about as thick as the rest of wool to get an even link.
Repeat this until you have the length you want and at that point close the necklace with one last link, pulling the two end together.
As my closing link I used three 20cm pieces of thin pencil roving intertwined to one link.
As a finishing touch a laid out some silk roving in matching colours on only a few links of the chain and needle felted them lightly, just to make sure they will not float away when getting wet.
After that you can start felting the necklace link by link. I only wet a few links at a time.
The water doesn't have to be really warm at this point because it is more about rolling the links one by one between your hand and you fingers, and not yet about the fulling.
After I finish prefelting the whole necklace I put it in the dryer for a few minutes, on COLD (!), to roll some more. When I think the links are nice and round, it goes in the dryer for a second cycle, but this time using the HOT air to start fulling.
Be sure the whole piece is still quite wet when putting it in the dryer, otherwise it will come out all frizzy and fluffy.
And here is the end result of your work:
Last week I made another one, not as chunky as the first one, and this time I took pictures.
I prepared by pulling pieces of roving about 20cms in length and splitting them length wise.
By folding a piece of roving into a circle, you make the first link. Put the part where the two ends meet together on a piece of foam or whatever you use for needle felting and felt them together.
Be sure this part ends up about as thick as the rest of wool to get an even link.
 |
As my closing link I used three 20cm pieces of thin pencil roving intertwined to one link.
As a finishing touch a laid out some silk roving in matching colours on only a few links of the chain and needle felted them lightly, just to make sure they will not float away when getting wet.
After that you can start felting the necklace link by link. I only wet a few links at a time.
The water doesn't have to be really warm at this point because it is more about rolling the links one by one between your hand and you fingers, and not yet about the fulling.
 |
| Be sure your hands aren't too slick and soapy at this stage because the wool needs some resistance to roll round. Otherwise your will be felting a flat piece of wool. (You will know what I mean when the moment occurs.) |
After I finish prefelting the whole necklace I put it in the dryer for a few minutes, on COLD (!), to roll some more. When I think the links are nice and round, it goes in the dryer for a second cycle, but this time using the HOT air to start fulling.
Be sure the whole piece is still quite wet when putting it in the dryer, otherwise it will come out all frizzy and fluffy.
And here is the end result of your work:
Monday, September 3, 2012
Felted mini backpack
Sometimes you walk around with an idea for weeks before it comes to life. I have a big notebook at hand in which I write down some features I want to work on in a piece, but most of the process happens in my head by visualising.
This mini backpack has been growing in my head over the past few weeks.
You can see the outline of the (white) inside pockets through the black wool, but somehow this adds to the square theme...
I used resists for the inside pockets. The first time I used extra resists, and it worked fine.
I went to the department store for thin black leather belts to use as straps, but in the end I came home with these braces. The belts were all too big, but these braces add a quirky detail to the backpack.
You cannot see this in the pictures but before fulling I have sewn the outlines by hand to make the outlines more distinguished and help with pressing the side and bottom folds.
All in all I am happy with the result!
This mini backpack has been growing in my head over the past few weeks.
You can see the outline of the (white) inside pockets through the black wool, but somehow this adds to the square theme...
I used resists for the inside pockets. The first time I used extra resists, and it worked fine.
I went to the department store for thin black leather belts to use as straps, but in the end I came home with these braces. The belts were all too big, but these braces add a quirky detail to the backpack.
You cannot see this in the pictures but before fulling I have sewn the outlines by hand to make the outlines more distinguished and help with pressing the side and bottom folds.
All in all I am happy with the result!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Some of my latest projects
Like I told you last time, I am completely addicted to felting at the moment.
I have been trying all kinds of, for me, new techniques like shibori felting and dyeing, cobweb felting, mixing colours and hand dyeing. And most of it turned out quite like I imagined.
I dyed this necklace after making the noodles. I first poured different shades of blue over them while already being stringed. After that I sprayed them with a "fun pump" spray in a purple shade.
In between the steps I fixated the dye in the microwave and found out that the nylon string I used could not withstand the heat so all the noodles ended up in a heap. I finally stringed them randomly on three thin rubber cords and this is what came of it.
I have been trying all kinds of, for me, new techniques like shibori felting and dyeing, cobweb felting, mixing colours and hand dyeing. And most of it turned out quite like I imagined.
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| I am completely in love with this one! |
As you may have guessed by now, I am into chunky jewelry. Being 6.1" that is not really a problem ;-)
Next time I am going to make a chain necklace like this, I will take and post some pictures of the whole process so you can see step by step how I did it.
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| All kinds of blues and purples |
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| Noodles |
I dyed this necklace after making the noodles. I first poured different shades of blue over them while already being stringed. After that I sprayed them with a "fun pump" spray in a purple shade.
In between the steps I fixated the dye in the microwave and found out that the nylon string I used could not withstand the heat so all the noodles ended up in a heap. I finally stringed them randomly on three thin rubber cords and this is what came of it.
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| Triangle set |
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| Shibori felted |
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| Partly cobweb felted, sprayed, stamped and splatted with dye |
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| Shibori felted, partly shibori dyed and sprayed |
I will gradually add most of these to my Etsy shop, with more detailed pictures, so I hope you will pay me a visit some time.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Felt, felt, felt
I have been neglecting my blog terribly for the last few week. In part because I have been ill, but for the most part because I have been felting. A lot!
I have done some felting over the years, but suddenly it has me completely hooked and I am trying all kinds of techniques. I am even going to attend a masterclass in September.
And I added these to my Etsy shop as well.
I have done some felting over the years, but suddenly it has me completely hooked and I am trying all kinds of techniques. I am even going to attend a masterclass in September.
I will show off some of my experiments now.
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